The Deep End
by YH
Summary: Brooke has a life changing experience and meets a mysterious man along the way.
1. Chapter 1

Stroke after stroke, she pushed herself further and further away from the shore. She thought about turning around and seeing how far away she was, but she decided against it. Her arms and hands sliced through the invigorating, enticing water like a surgeon. The rules of consistency and not tiring herself out that she learned from competing in high school and college came back to her as soon as she began this journey.

She, Brooke Logan, was free. Finally, she was free. Free from her father's lies about dying. Free from attempts on her life. Free from Thorne not believing she loved him. Free from Ridge choosing Taylor once again over her. Free from the guilt she felt at the disastrous childhood she gave her children that had them crawling into bed and marrying the likes of Amber Moore and Deacon Sharpe. Everyone she had ever loved had either hurt or betrayed her or she them.

The full moon shone on her blonde hair as she paused and dog paddled, taking in the smell of the water and the clean crisp night air. Tranquility and peacefulness surrounded her. Her life was a disaster, but right now, right here all was right with the world. She could forget her past. She wasn't Brooke Logan Forrester Forrester Chambers Forrester Forrester; out here, she was no one. No more important than the fish that swam beneath and around her or the plant life swaying at the bottom of the Mediterranean. She sighed. If she could stay out here forever and keep everyone at bay, life would be perfect. No one out here for her to hurt and no one to hurt her.

Who knew working that Saturday night twenty-six years ago as a favor to her mother could lead to such pain? She should have never let her mother guilt her into working, instead she should have stayed in with Simone, Dara, and Felicia and played cards and board games with them.

Laughing, she began swimming once again. Cards and board games. Had she ever truly been that innocent that care free? It seemed like a lifetime ago. Life had been weighing her down; it was now time to be free. Free from the hurt and pain, that's all she wanted. That's all she desired. Hopefully, after this swim, her mind and her head would be cleared.

Or maybe not, she thought, as tears blinded her. Her dad, her hero, the man she looked up to had taken money in exchange for lying to her. He allowed her to think that he, the one man who had always loved her, taken care of her, supported her, was dying. When those words had come out of her father's mouth her whole world had been rocked. He and her mother were her foundation. They were her constant. And to hear, to think, to even imagine that one of them would no longer be there. Then to find out it was all a lie.

A lie. Her world destroyed for five million measly dollars. She could have given that amount to Stephen Logan, Senior, without even blinking an eye, without even missing it. Hell, she had offered Amber twice that amount to get out of Ric's life, but the scheming hustler had her eye on the bigger prize, Forrester Creation. Her father had tried to explain how Massimo had forced him into this scheme, but she didn't want to hear it. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing on earth could have made her hurt her family the way her father had hurt her, her siblings, and her mother.

Although she wasn't quite sure why she was surprised by her father's behavior hadn't she learned over the years that men lie and hurt you? She had been taught that lesson repeatedly so why should her dad be exempt? She was sure one day Storm would join the ranks of lying, untrustworthy men. Hadn't even Ric lied to her about his relationship with Amber? She had so wanted and prayed that her son wouldn't be like the other men but like everything else in her life no one listened.

Oh my gosh, did she hear herself? She was having a pity party. She- - ugh! No, not now. Ouch! The pain kept coming and coming. Her right leg was massively cramping. What could she do? What should she do? The pain was intense. She tried to remember the techniques she had been taught, but the pain overruled everything. Besides she had been a short distance swimmer not a long one. Maybe this was her answer to the end of the pain and suffering. Maybe- -

"Ahhhhhh!" she screamed into the night air. What had just touched her shoulder? She didn't know and she wasn't going to be the dumb chick in the horror film that stayed around to find out only to die for her efforts. Swinging and punching, she fought with all her might with all the tricks Storm and her dad had ever taught her and all the dirty ones that Dara and Felicia had taught her. She fought for her life and the next thing she knew was blackness.

* * *

Waking up slowly, Brooke was slightly disoriented. Where was she? What had happened to her? She sat up and found herself in her hotel room, in her bed, with her pajamas on, and a towel wrapped around her hair. Alarmed, she wondered how did she get here? The last thing she remembered was something touching her, fighting like hell, then nothing. Feeling the panic rising by the minute, she jumped out of bed and searched the room for any sort of clues.

Who saved her? Who found her? Who brought her back to her room? Who knew where she was staying? She had fled Paris and took the train to a little town outside of Cannes without informing anyone as to where she was going. She had taken a twenty minute cab ride to even get to the beach last night. Did Massimo send someone else after her? Did Stephanie? No, no. It couldn't have been them. Their people would have let her drown. Was someone following her? Was- -

Shaking her head, she took a deep breath and tried to think logically. Maybe her rescuer had been a good Samaritan who wanted to remain anonymous. She had left her room key with the name of the hotel on it next to her clothes on the beach. She sighed. She was overreacting. A helpful and kind rescuer or two saved her and brought her back to her room. Nothing more, nothing less.

She had been crazy for swimming with so much on her mind, by herself, in a foreign country so late at night. It was time to go home; she had wasted enough of her time in France. Her children and her company needed her and she needed them. As she arranged for the Forrester jet to meet her at the nearest airport, she firmly pushed the lingering doubts about her rescuer theory to the back of her mind.


	2. Chapter 2

Tammy, I'm glad you enjoyed the first chapter. I, too, enjoy a strong and independent Brooke. I hope this story doesn't disappoint you.

* * *

"Brooke, thank you for the breakfast. But I'm sure you didn't invite us over here to taste your cooking skills," Deacon said politely, finishing off his meal.

Amber lowered her fork and nodded her head in agreement.

Brooke slowly sipped her orange juice as she looked at her two in-laws, her children's spouses. It was time to get this show on the road, Deacon was right. Setting down her glass, she looked them dead in the eyes and began. "I almost died twice while I was in France- -"

"Are you okay?" Deacon asked, as Amber gasped.

"Yes, thank you. I am now. Those incidences are why I called you both over. Life is short. I know that is a cliché and sounds contrite, but it's so true. If I had died, besides Ric and Bridget, what would I have to show for my life? I thought about all the things I had never done. I've never gone skydiving and I always said I would. I found, but never held onto, the man of my dreams. When I was with Ridge, truly with him, it was one of the greatest experiences of my life. And I'm not talking about the love making; I'm talking about waking up next to the person who knew me best in the world, both mind and body. Waking up beside not just my husband, my lover, but my most trusted friend. Now am I saying that it was all roses and fairy tales, hell no. There were times I wanted to strangle Ridge, times I wanted him to get out of my face, but I never wanted him out of my life. And I never, ever thought about leaving him or wanting someone else. He was it for me. I've had lovers, husbands, but nothing has matched what I had with Ridge because, sadly enough, none of those other men was my best friend. And without the person lying next to you at night being your best friend, your confidante, the relationship is doomed to fail. I know now that I can't settle for less, I don't deserve less. The next man to walk through my door and share my bed will be my best friend. He will be the man I can't wait to call or see when something great happens at work. The man who listens and lets me vent about Stephanie or Taylor's 'perfection'."

Amber snorted. Deacon smirked.

"It will be the man I want to bring me chicken soup when I'm sick. And I can put my cold feet on him while we're in bed, both doing our own thing. I want a man who one day will be able to finish my sentence at times and I his. I deserve to have that kind of love in my life and so do both of you." Turning to Amber, Brooke breathed in deep and began. "I don't like you."

Ouch, Deacon said inwardly.

"Brooke," Amber cried.

"Don't start, Amber. We both know it's true and we know why. You abused my trust. You took advantage of my son. You robbed him of his few remaining years of childhood and thrust responsibilities on him that he shouldn't have known for another decade or two. I can't- - I won't ever forgive you for that, even if Little Eric, a boy I love with all my heart, is the result of that. And I can't totally blame you, I hired you, I allowed you in this house and gave you access to my children. So as much as the blame lies at your door; it also lies at mine. But with all that said, Amber Moore, you deserve to have someone love you completely and fully. I know you hide parts of yourself from Ric because you think he would be shocked or disgusted. That's wrong, you shouldn't live in fear in your own home, with your own husband. Yes, Ric lived a very sheltered life, so did I, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't be able to accept all of you. Or maybe he won't, but you should at least give him the opportunity. You warrant a love with a man that you can be your complete self with all the time. If your relationship with Ric stands a chance to stand the test of time, you need to trust him and tell him everything. If not, then don't waste anymore of his life and get the hell out of it. My grandson should grow up in a house where he sees two people who love each other and fully trust each other." Brooke paused, and then turned to Deacon. "You stole my daughter's innocence and then shoved it and rubbed it in our faces. I can't forgive you for that, even though I see the changes you're making and trying to make. But you can't make yourself love someone. And you don't love my daughter. And you never will. You need a woman by your side and in your bed who understands that even when everything is going along seemingly perfectly, life can kick you in the face and tumble you to the ground. And your choices are either: lie there and bemoan your fate or dust yourself off and be the wiser for it. Somehow, somehow even with my tumultuous love life, Bridget still believes in fairy tale endings, is non-cynical, and untouched by the true ugliness of life. So is Ric for that matter and I pray they stay that way. But that doesn't help either of you, to be with people who don't and can't ever understand where you're coming from even if they try with all their might." Throwing her napkin on her plate, Brooke stood up. "Deacon, you need to decide if you're in or out of Little Eric's life. He needs people he can count on, not fly-by-nighters. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a date. So please finish your breakfast, Marta will show you out." And with those final words, Brooke left her in-laws speechless at the dining room table.

* * *

Merging with the traffic on the freeway, Brooke never saw the black sedan keeping pace with her two cars behind.

"Whose idea was it to come to Magic Mountain again?" Brooke asked, standing in the long line at the amusement park.

"Yours," Ric and Bridget said in unison.

"Ahh, yes. At least it beats Disneyland."

"Hey, I happen to love Disneyland," Bridget responded.

"Yes, Budge, we know. We only had to go practically every other month while we were growing up," Ric answered.

"Well, it is the happiest place on the earth," Bridget retorted.

Ric snorted as his mother rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, keep believing that one, sis. But speaking of happiness, why aren't you talking to Grandpa and more excited about him not dying, Mom?"

She had known this question was going to be brought up sooner or later, she was hoping it was later. "We'll discuss it later."

Shaking his head, Ric knew this diversionary tactic by heart. "No, Mom, that's what you said last time. I want to know what's going on."

"Ric, this is neither the time nor the place for that discussion."

Budge and Ric looked at each other and nodded.

"Then let's go," Bridget said and climbed over the fence to get out of line.

Seeing her children's minds made up, Brooke followed suit.

* * *

"Stephanie tried to kill you and had Grandpa fake his illness," Ric repeated, as they sat on an isolated part of the beach, eating a snack.

"I knew she hated you, but to have someone- - How could she do that and claim to love us?" Bridget cried.

Brooke sighed. She never wanted this. She always worked so hard to make sure her kids had a good relationship with their step-mother and it was all crumbling right before her eyes. "Honey- -"

"Mom, don't you dare defend her. That's all you did our whole lives, while all she did every chance she got was tear you down," Ric spat.

"Not in front- -"

"No, never in front of us or with us close by, but that doesn't make it okay. It doesn't make it right. She's an evil sick woman, yet you made her seem like some loving second mother."

"What was I supposed to do, Ric? She was married to your father. She is the love of his life- -"

"I thought Grandma was," Bridget interjected.

"Bridget Elizabeth, don't even start on that," she said, reprimanding her daughter. "There was more than enough tension in the family without the two of you growing up disliking her. Besides my fight with Stephanie has nothing to do with your relationship with her."

"You don't have a fight with her. She's the one with issues. And you're wrong when she declared war with one Logan, she declared war with all Logans."

Brooke stared at her son. For a moment it was as if Storm was standing in front of her speaking. "Ric, that's kind of- -"

"It's not kind- -"

"Let me finish. Yes, you're Logans, but you're also Forresters and you need to remember that, both of you."

"What does that mean?"

"It means keep your father in mind- -"

"After that scheme he cooked up with Taylor and Ridge. Screw his feelings," Bridget interrupted.

"I'm with my little sister on this one, Mom. Dad, needs to be told the truth and let the cards fall where they may."

Vehemently shaking her head, she glared at her children. "This is my life. My story to tell. I only told you the truth because I thought I could trust you two as adults, but if you can't abide by my wishes and keep this information to yourselves, I will make sure I never make that mistake again." Gathering the trash, Brooke stormed off, leaving two torn adults sitting on the sand, completely oblivious to the blonde man sitting just out of listening distance.


	3. Chapter 3

Tammy - Brooke doesn't seem to do the get mad and stay mad thing like Stephanie does. She's just a forgiving person, particularly to those she loves. And boy, oh boy, does she love the Forresters...

* * *

"Taylor, what are you doing here?" Brooke asked, watching Taylor enter the boardroom as the Forrester weekly board meeting was winding down.

"I invited her," Stephanie announced, standing up to greet her favorite daughter-in-law. "With everyone's busy schedule, I thought this would be the perfect time to have a little cake and ice cream to celebrate Taylor and Ridge's wedding anniversary."

The pain shot through Brooke instantly and intensely, but she kept her face neutral.

"Mother," Ridge reprimanded.

Taylor looked decidedly uncomfortable as did Eric and Thorne.

Ric and Deacon glared at Stephanie.

Kristin and Felicia looked around the room trying to figure out the sudden change in dynamics and drop in temperature.

"What?" Stephanie asked innocently. "You couldn't do a family dinner and besides everyone is here except Bridget and Amber, so why can't we celebrate?"

"Stephanie, we wanted to keep everything low key this year," Taylor gently stated to her mother-in-law.

"Nonsense. Marriage should be celebrated. You and Ridge have been able to stay together, through all the adversities thrown your way. Some people don't have the ability to keep marriages together," the older woman said, looking directly at Brooke, as she opened the boardroom door and let in the caterers.

But Brooke remained neutral. She wouldn't give Stephanie the satisfaction of seeing her pain.

Efficiently and swiftly the caterers placed the cake, platters, glasses, utensils, and cloth napkins on the table.

Taylor and Ridge looked at each other unsure of what to do.

"Cut the cake," Brooke commanded. "I want to taste it. Hansen's cakes are always the best."

Trying to read Brooke, Ridge came up short as she blocked him out of her thoughts and her mind.

Putting on a smiling face, she eagerly awaited her piece of cake as Ridge and Taylor cut into the cake.

Stephanie stared at her nemesis. Why was the whore smiling and partaking in her impromptu celebration of Ridge's marriage? She should be in tears. She should have fled the room unable to take seeing the man she loved celebrate his love with his wife, who wasn't her. After Paris, Stephanie had been so sure Brooke would cower in her presence, give all the Forresters a wide berth, but instead here Brooke sat enjoying the anniversary cake and champagne. This was a farce, Brooke Logan was supposed to emerge from Paris, if not dead, then deeply wounded both emotionally and mentally, but obviously that wasn't the case. Although the whore could be faking it, but no she wasn't that good of an actress. "What are your plans for tonight?"

"Mother, give it a rest," Ridge growled.

"Okay, enough of this underlying tension crap. What in the world is going on here? And I don't mean these last few minutes, but this whole meeting, these past few weeks since Brooke came back from Paris," Felicia demanded.

"Felicia," Kristen pleaded, wanting to keep the peace, even if it was fake and tension-filled.

"No, Kristen. I won't bite my tongue any longer."

Before anyone had a chance to respond, Brooke jumped in. "Nothing is going on, Felicia. My dad was grossly misdiagnosed. He thought about suing, but he's so happy that he no longer has only months to live, he let it go. Lesson learned, he'll never make the mistake again of not getting a second or third opinion. I'm trying to adjust to being back in Los Angeles and from thinking my dad had a death sentence to knowing I hopefully have a few more decades with him. I don't want to be without my daddy anytime soon."

Felicia stared into Brooke's eyes. She was the one person in this family that told her the truth, but something was off. "I'll accept that, but what about Ric and Mom?" All during the meeting and for the past few weeks, Ric had been snipping at her mother.

"It has finally sunk in that his mother and the woman he loves almost as much as me- -"

Ric began to snort, but one deadly look from his mother stopped him dead in his tracks.

"Hates me and we'll never be one big happy fun loving family. It takes some time to get used to, no?" Brooke asked Felicia.

"Yes. But he's known that his whole life," Felicia retorted.

"No, amazingly enough Stephanie and I kept our confrontations away from Ric and Bridget. So you can imagine their shock to discover that your mother thinks I'm public enemy number one."

Felicia was speechless, which wasn't an easy thing to do to her. Ric and Budge really hadn't known about the animosity her mother had towards his. She had been away from home too long. Who knew her mother was that good of an actress? Or were her younger siblings just that dense? No, it was Brooke. For the sake of those she loved, she would sacrifice everything and put up with anything to make them happy and to keep the peace in the family. Why did her Father ever divorce her? Oh, that's right; Brooke was in love with Ridge. But maybe not anymore. She knew she never could have helped any man she loved celebrate his anniversary with another woman.

"I apologize- -"

"Logan, you don't have- -"

"It's Brooke, Ridge. Just like you're Ridge, she's Brooke so why don't you start using it, Forrester?" Deacon spat.

"No, Ridge. I'm sorry I've let my personal issues interfere with my work here. I don't want to create a tension-filled work place where people are afraid of stepping on someone else's toes. So for that I apologize. From now on, my personal life will stay that, personal." Standing up, she picked up her slice of cake. "Can I get another piece?" she asked the caterer.

He quickly placed another healthy slice on her plate.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome, Mrs. Forrester."

"It's Ms Logan," Stephanie scolded.

"Stephanie," Eric chastised.

Brooke shook her head. "Congratulations, you two. I hope you enjoy many more happy years with each other. There very few people in the world who know exactly who they are married to and are okay with that, but I'm glad you are. Thanks for the cake, but I've got other meetings."

Without another word she exited, leaving a group of confused, seething, remorseful, puzzled, and angry people behind.


	4. Chapter 4

Swimming leisurely in the Pacific, Brooke was glad she had taken the day off of work to play hooky. Wiser from her incident in Cannes, she was staying very close to the shore. Though she did wonder if she got another cramp would her rescuer come to her rescue again?

As much as she didn't want it to, her rescuer or rescuers stayed on her mind constantly. How was it possible that she could have passed out, been pulled from the sea, driven to her hotel, undressed, given a shower, redressed, and placed into bed without her ever awakening once? She had almost called James to see if he could put her under so she could find out the truth about what had occurred. But she refrained, though she had gone to the doctor for a check-up to make sure she hadn't been assaulted. She was sure she hadn't been, but better to be safe than sorry.

Who rescued her? And why? Why would they leave her without a note or a word after all they had done to ensure she would live? It was all very bizarre, but hadn't her life been strange in one way or the other since she met the Forrester family? Things she thought would never happen, say, for instance, her marrying and remarrying Ridge and also his dad and his brother. She always thought she would be the girl who would marry once and marry for life. Instead, she married more times than the last seven generations of her family. Ouch! Life definitely hadn't turned out the way she'd planned it.

She wondered how long she could get away with not returning her siblings or mother's calls. She knew if she didn't call one of them soon, both Jamal Woods, Katie's whipped husband, and Brad Snyder, Donna's equally whipped husband, would be showing up on her doorstep. She was having a hard time deciding who would be the easiest to talk to. It definitely wasn't her mother. Brooke couldn't even begin to contemplate the hurt and rage her mother felt for her husband of over forty years to tell such a horrible, despicable lie. She shook hear head, knowing she definitely couldn't call her mother.

She couldn't call Storm either. She loved her older brother to death but sometimes he couldn't stop himself from making Forrester digs and sprinkling "get away from those evil people" throughout his conversation. This left her with calling Donna or Katie. Donna was expecting her second set of Snyder twins so it wasn't a good idea to upset her, which left Katie.

Katie could be a hothead and would want to hop in her car and go to war with Stephanie, Massimo, and Ridge. All the things she didn't want. She wanted to do what she had been doing, ignore the Forresters and keep everything strictly business. She was cordial and polite, but the minute Eric, Ridge, Thorne, or Stephanie tried to make it personal, she shut down. Maybe that was the key to being free from the Forresters, ignore. Ignore. Ignore. Ignore. If only she had realized that years before, it would have saved her heartache. But who knew if she would have been able to do that years ago. Although she was enjoying "Operation Ignore", it drove Stephanie positively bananas, especially combined with her passive, non-revealing smile she had developed. She was sure that woman was going to have another heart attack soon.

Brooke opened her eyes and was amazed at how far she had drifted from the shore. She spun around and quickly made her way to the shore, until a hand on her shoulder stopped her. Instantly her mind flashed to Cannes; she reached inside her bikini top and grabbed her miniaturized, water-proof can of mace. Turning to spray it, her hand was caught in mid-air.

"Do Ric and Bridget mean so little to you that you would risk death twice? Are you so disappointed they married people beneath them that you would kill yourself? Because if disappointing parents led to suicide, your parents would have off-ed themselves years ago," the mystery man said.

"Who are you? And how dare you scare me like that? And how dare you talk to me like this?" Brooke yelled angrily, as she was pulled to shore and ceremoniously dumped on the sand.

"I dare because I've already saved your life once and I don't need to do it twice."

Clearing the water from her eyes, she looked up to see a tall, Norse looking man staring down at her. He looked to be around his mid-to-late twenties. This was the man who had saved her life. "Why?"

"Why did I save your life? Right now, I'm wondering the same thing. It seems you didn't fully appreciate it the first time around."

Standing up to her full height so she wouldn't feel so overpowered by the over six foot tall stranger, she still had to tilt her head to look him in the eye. "I am not nor have I ever been suicidal and with that said, thank you for the help in Cannes, but I did not need rescuing today. I definitely didn't need to be manhandled by a gigantic brute."

"Well, you do have this can of mace on you. So I guess you did learn something," he said as if he didn't hear her. He handed her back her can.

She took it back and held it ready to use. "Who are you?" If he rescued her, did that mean he undressed her, bathed her? Oh my- -

"Get your mind out of the gutter. I saved your life, found a nice, hearty, motherly looking maid to get you bathed and dressed, end of story. By the way you owe me three hundred dollars for that."

Her jaw dropped. Did he just have the audacity to ask her for money?

"Yes, I asked for my money back. Unlike some people, I'm not a billionaire."

"Neither am I," she retorted haughtily.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I meant multi-millionaire. Oh never mind, I forgot that wasn't my money. It was yours I got it out of your secret stash under the mattress. By the way, that's a horrible place to leave your backup cash."

She stared at him in amazement. Who was this brute, arrogant, uncouth man in front of her? She had never met a man like this before in her life. Who in the world did he think he was?

"Have you looked your fill yet? And close your mouth before bugs start flying down your throat." Taking a look at himself, he tried to squeeze out some of the water in his shirt and jeans. "Now thanks to your stunt I have to drive home in wet clothes. Thanks a lot. What's the fastest way back to the Valley?"

She remained silent. He was obnoxious and rude to her, yet he wanted her help. Was he insane? Maybe this was all some bad dream and she was going to wake up on the beach with her head buried in a Jackie Collins novel.

"I should have known you'd be of no help. Well, I gotta go. And stay out of the water when you're by yourself. Next time I'll let you drown, Ric and Bridget be damned," the blonde warned as he took off across the sand.

"Who are you?" She was finally able to get out.

He paused, turned, and looked at her. "It seems I'm your new guardian angel. Next time, try to kill yourself some place dry, LF."

"LF?"

"Your name. I could call you Logan Forrester Forrester, but after so many Forresters it just gets old and tired so I'll just call you LF for short." Turning back around, he headed for the parking lot.

Brooke gaped. Was she coming or going? Was this bizzaro world? This was without a doubt the most peculiar, oddest meeting, confrontation- -she didn't even know what to call it- -that she had ever had. She was sure she had never seen her so-called "guardian angel" before in her life and unless he was a reporter, how in the world did he know so much about her life? And she had a sinking suspicion that he wasn't a reporter.


	5. Chapter 5

Laying her pencil down, Brooke looked at the rough sketch she drew of her rescuer. She wasn't a great artist, but between her few college art classes and Ridge's help she wasn't too bad. Staring at his picture, she knew she had never seen him before. But she felt like she must know him or must have seen him; it was the only thing that made sense. Besides being obnoxious, arrogant, and condescending, he obviously had a soft side; he had saved her life once or twice in his opinion.

He was too cocky to be paparazzi, plus she had never seen him with a camera, though with all the advancements in technology he could have had a little one on him and she never would have known, but she didn't think so. He couldn't be a reporter, he gave away too much information. Reporters loved to hear themselves talk, which obviously this guy did, too, but they loved for you to talk even more. Her mystery guy barely let her get a word in edge wise. He didn't work for Massimo or Stephanie since she was still breathing and Stephanie wasn't banging down her front door or office door.

He was too young to be someone from her past, too old to be someone from Ric or Bridget's. Maybe he knew Deacon or Amber? No, that didn't make any sense. Maybe he was a private investigator who was hired by a third party to find her? But who could possibly be looking for her? No, she shook her head, he couldn't be a PI. They weren't actually supposed to make contact with the person they were looking for, were they?

Ugh, she groaned. She had spent too much of the last month thinking about him and their encounters. Maybe she'd go down to San Diego this weekend and show the picture to Storm, Katie, and Donna, maybe they would recognize him. With that settled for the time being, Brooke put her sketch away and concentrated on the spreadsheet filled with numbers on her desk.

* * *

"Ridge, you haven't touched your lunch," Taylor gently reproved.

Ridge stood up and walked over to his window and stared at the city moving below him.

"Ridge?"

"I'm not very hungry."

"You haven't been very hungry for quite some time. I'm worried. Should I make an appointment with Dr. Roswell?"

He shook his head.

Placing her napkin on the make-shift picnic table, she walked over to Ridge. "Ridge, talk to me," she pleaded. "Tell me how we can make our marriage work."

He watched as people got in their cars, merged with traffic, and drove away. They were all people moving forward with their lives while he was at a stand still. Or maybe he had never been moving forward at all, it just appeared like he was.

"Ridge?" she called, trying to keep the irritation and frustration out of her voice. She felt her marriage slipping away right before her eyes and she was helpless to stop it. "Ridge."

"What do you want me to say?"

"Say that you want this marriage to work."

Her husband remained silent.

She wouldn't take that as a bad sign, she'd continue on. "That you truly forgave me, forgive me, for my part in what happened with Stephen Logan because of my insecurities about Brooke." Anything, just say something.

For minutes they lived in an uncomfortable, tension-filled silence, which could have accurately described their marriage for the past year or so.

"When Logan and I were engaged and expecting our first child her Great-Grandmother Henderson died and we attended the funeral. I can clearly remember the minister in this small, standing-room only church in Butte, Montana, say 'that a person's worth and impact in life could be determined by the number of friends they had. And not the fly-by-night friends, but the tried and true friends.' I remember the endless stream of men and women offering their condolences and I could tell these people were truly friends with Grammy. At the time, I thought nothing of it. I had my future wife-to-be at my side, a baby on the way, my buddies from college, my fraternity brothers, the friends I had made in the industry, life was great. And now over twenty-five years later, I can't remember the last time I talked to most of those people, we lost touch over the years as our lives got busy and we didn't make time for each other. My baby is in Heaven with his Grammy. And the one friend I do have I've stabbed in the back, not once but twice in less than two years. The one friend who has stood by me through everything I stab in the back. If I died tomorrow, the only impact on people's lives I would have had was you, our kids, my mom and dad. That's it."

"Ridge, that's not true. You've made a huge difference through your art, your clothes. You have friends who love you and would miss you always if you died. I couldn't live without you."

"That's what I told Caroline, but look at me married again with kids. When was the last time I went to her gravesite? No wonder Bill hated me."

"Ridge, Caroline knew you loved her and wanted you to move on with your life. She would be happy that you've found happiness again," Taylor said gently, cupping the side of his face.

Moving away from his wife's touch, Ridge leaned against the glass. "She would be disgusted with the way I've treated Brooke- -"

She did not want to hear that name. She thought she was finally rid of that woman. Brooke had been keeping her distance and for once Ridge wasn't chasing after her. But yet, here she was again. Did everything have to revolve around Brooke Logan? "We did what we had to in order to save Stephanie's life. You remember her, your mother?"

He shook his head. "We were wrong. Would my mother have been upset about Brooke and Thorne? Yes. But would she have died? I don't think so."

"Were you willing to take that chance? The doctor said no stress. And Brooke becoming part of this family is a sure way for Stephanie's pressure to rise. And rise quick- -"

"And telling Brooke that Stephen was dying was also apart of keeping my mother alive?"

"Ridge, I explained that already. We've dealt with all of this."

"No, we haven't. You gave me some two-bit reasoning about how it was okay to let someone think their father was dying. And I- -"

"Forgave me and told Brooke that you were committed to our marriage. And I thank you for that, but we need to move on, move past this."

"Brooke used to call me sometimes from Paris."

Taylor kept her shock to herself. Brooke thought her dad was dying yet still tried to hone in on Ridge. Stephanie was right, Brooke needed to be stopped.

"The first time she called, she didn't say anything. I almost hung up on her and then it dawned on me who it was and I just started talking. It was the middle of the night in France and her worry over her father gave her sleepless nights and she would call and listen to me prattle on about any and everything. I told her about my designs, the kids, the dinner you cooked. And when I ran out of things to say, I would read articles from whatever magazine or newspaper that was handy. She put our tumultuous, twisted, dysfunctional lover relationship aside and called me because I was her friend. Before the madness began, I was her friend. The friend she forgave for leading her on in Italy," he paused and turned to look at his wife, his Doc. He had spent the past few months disconnected, in a state of depression. She was right, it was time to move on. "Let's have a seat."

Taking this as a positive sign since he was finally opening up, Taylor allowed her husband to usher her to his office sofa.

"Taylor, these past few weeks I've gone over and over everything that happened in Italy- -"

"Ridge- -"

"No, please let me finish. I'm disgusted by our actions. I wondered how I could do that to my own brother and to my best friend and the woman I have children with. But even more important than that, I pondered how she ever found it in her heart to forgive me. And suddenly my eyes were opened, she forgave me because she knew I wasn't acting- -"

Taylor gasped, but he tuned her out.

"Those feelings I spoke about, the memories, the time I spent with Brooke, they were all real. Our marriage was in trouble because I did indeed have feelings for her. Brooke looked past her own hurt and pain and saw the truth, something I was unable to do. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized you knew it, too, or you wouldn't have participated in my mother's latest craziest, cruelest plot to rid herself of Brooke. Didn't you?"

How did she answer that? She loved Ridge. She loved being Mrs. Ridge Forrester. She loved being the mother of his children and rearing them with him. Gazing into his eyes, the truth and the sincerity of his words rang loud and clear. The honesty she had always craved in their marriage was here. Did she return his honesty and risk it all? Or did she lie and see where the cards might fall? With a deep breath, she began her unknown journey. "Yes," she said, clearly, with tears in her eyes. "I knew Portafino brought out all the dormant feelings you buried, hid. I've known that you had feel- -" No, she was going to be completely honest and open. "I knew you were still in love with Brooke when you came back to me and Thomas and you would shower once you thought I was asleep after we made love. And not only would you wash me off of you, you would cry. Cry for the family you'd lost. I followed you a few times after you started disappearing for hours and no one knew where you were. I was behind you, as you stood obscured by a tree or a structure watching Ric at his tennis lessons and Bridget at her volleyball games. I found your hidden pictures of the family you loved. I thought about confronting you, about leaving you and letting you go back where you so obviously wanted to be, but my dad unknowingly stopped me." Wiping the fallen tears, she took another breath and continued. "I was at the end of my rope and I went to see my dad. We started talking about the past. And he told me stories he had never shared before about his grandmother. How she left her home in the North to marry a man only her dad had met and start a new life in Oklahoma. How she came to him on the eve of his marrying my mother and told him that when she married his grandfather she hadn't been in love with him, but he had been a good, hardworking man who wanted to be married so she made it work because he was open and willing. What more she could ask for? That story empowered me. Maybe you didn't love me the way you loved Brooke, and maybe you were with me not because of Thomas, but because you honestly and truly wanted to give Eric a chance to be a dad to Bridget and Ric, but you were with me and you were committed to our marriage. So I took that and I worked with it. I worked with what I had. And from that I gained two beautiful daughters and years of happiness, and the loveliest family."

Looking at Taylor with new eyes, Ridge was amazed that she had been so observant, so sneaky, so willing to make their marriage work, knowing he didn't love her. He wasn't sure if he should admire her or be disgusted.

"The plan in Italy gave me so many sleepless nights and gave new life to all my fears, but to save the life of the woman who has been a mother to me, I went along with it. I watched as you fell back in love with her again and my heart broke. But you came back home to me, to my bed, so I fought for us. And when Stephanie suggested involving Stephen, I helped her any way I could because I was fighting for my life, the lives of my children. Was it cruel, horrible and wrong? Yes. Would I do it again? Yes, in a heartbeat."

He had never seen this side of Taylor before. This fiery, this blood-thirsty. She would willingly let a family grieve for their non-dying husband, father, grandfather in order to save their marriage. He wanted to heave. He had never seen the damage his good intentions had caused to Taylor. The road to hell was paved with them. He was done pretending. Standing up, he walked back over to the window and looked down at the pedestrians again.

Their marriage was over, she saw it in his eyes, along with his revulsion. "She'll never forgive you."

"Maybe I'm not worthy of it."


	6. Chapter 6

The mystery man is over six feet with blonde hair, abs and chest to die for...

* * *

Brooke looked around the cramped, cluttered, yet clean looking café. She was glad she had changed clothes before coming with her jeans and blouse; she blended in with the customers.

"LF, over here," her rescuer called to her.

Seeing him sipping a Coke in the back of the café, she carefully made her way to him, slipping past busy waitresses with their hands full of food. "Hello," she greeted, sliding into the bench in front of him and putting her purse on the table next to her hand.

"Hello. Did you notice how I chose a restaurant inland? I didn't want to take the chance of you deciding to take a 'swim'."

She grimaced. "I was taking a swim."

He nodded and smiled. "Sure you were, and after all you've been through I might have taken a 'swim' too."

"After what I've been through?"

"Yeah, you know. Your dad lying about dying. Mr. Big Haired Ego guy choosing his sanctimonious wife over you. Thorne marrying another woman the minute something went wrong in your relationship. You know I thought Ego guy was bad, but Thorne was much worse. The first sign of trouble and he runs like a little chicken. He runs to Macy, and then he runs off to divorce you because he's not your soul mate. Hell, if everyone divorced his or her spouse because they weren't their soul mates, there would be very few married people in the world."

She worked overtime not to let his numerous revelations about her personal life affect her or show a reaction. He would love her gasping and acting shocked. He was like a little kid saying and doing things to provoke a reaction from the adults around him. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

"Ah, playing it cool. You're learning; that's good."

The tired waitress sauntered over to the table. "Good afternoon. What can I get for you?"

"I'll have a cheeseburger with fries. She'll have the same thing, but with no onions. And bring her a Coke."

The waitress nodded and left.

"I can order for myself, thank you very much."

"I'm sure you can, LF, but it makes it easier if one person does it."

She laughed. Why was a forcible, take charge guy attractive in Harlequins, but in real life worked your last nerve? "Women find your behavior attractive?"

He grinned and nodded. "I've got them eating out of my hands."

"Why am I here?" she asked, ready to cut to the chase.

"I thought we should meet someplace that wasn't the beach. And this is as good of a place as any. Easy to blend in. Not be noticed. With all that said, LJ, why in the world did you agree to meet me here? We're miles away from your home and office. I'm sure you didn't tell anyone where you were. And while you're seemingly dressed like the other patrons, no one here knows the Chloe sunglasses sitting on your head cost more than some of them paid for their car. Or your Versace shirt and True Religion jeans cost more than their whole wardrobe put together."

So he knew something about the fashion industry though he could have learned such information from his girlfriend. But she didn't think so; just by casually glancing at her clothes, he was able to discern the labels. How funny she wasn't really a label wearer, sad to say owning a clothing company, but she could care less. It must be her blue collar roots; with all the money in her bank account, she still shopped at Sears and JCPenney's, like she did when she was a girl. She had only put on Amber's birthday gift to her because she was having dinner with her children and their spouses tonight. "I sent a sketch of you, a quite detailed one, I might add, to the appropriate people. I have an emergency alarm on my key ring that if I hit, it sends an SOS to the nearest law enforcement agency, local, state, or federal. I could spray you with my can of mace before you could move. And if that didn't work, I've got my Glock 9 handy."

He laughed. "A Glock 9, LF is playing with the big boys. Not nearly as nice as my pistol. You wanna show me yours. I'll show you mine."

"I'll show you mine at dawn- -"

"Ooh, a dual. I like the way your mind works. You're a real firecracker. And I'm impressed. I knew deep down in there was a smart woman and that you wouldn't blindly meet me in the middle of nowhere. I'm also flattered, with all that weaponry you make me think I'm evil incarnate."

Brooke tilted her head and raised an eyebrow.

The blonde man laughed heartily. "You sure you don't have someone out there," he asked, pointing out the window, "following you or recording this meeting?"

"You never know."

"LF, you're a hell of a woman even with your crappy taste in men. Can you explain what's so great about the Forrester men? But that's a convo for another day."

Did he ever take a breath? He jumped from subject to subject amazing her with just how much information he knew about her life. Just when she was feeling scared beyond belief he would turn everything around and put her at ease somewhat or insult her, taking her mind of off the fear she had felt moments before. He was a piece of work. This nameless man. "What's your name?"

"LF, you're ruining the fun. I was having fun being handsome, intelligent, mystery guy- -"

"Who told you you were handsome or intelligent? Those aren't adjectives I would use to describe you. Cocky, arrogant, annoying- -"

"My mother told me I was the handsomest man she'd ever met, even cuter than my dad, but that's a secret. And she also told me I was the smartest guy she knew. Though I have to say on occasion she has used those other words you used to describe me, but that was only on rainy days when we were trapped in the house together."

Taking him all in, she could easily imagine him as a tow headed blonde boy being mischievous, sneaky, yet very loving and adoring when he cared to be. Even as a man, she reluctantly admitted the same was still true. With his white shirt unbuttoned enough to show off his white t-shirt and fitted jeans, all he was missing was a cowboy hat, and he would give Matthew McConaughey a run for his money. If you could get passed the infuriating attitude, she could see why the women loved him.

Her food being placed before her brought her to conscious awareness again.

"It's Chucky."

"Like the doll?"

He grinned and the next thing she knew they were eating and having a pleasant conversation about a wide range of topics from which airport was the best, du Galle, LAX, Kennedy, O'Hare, Heathrow; to favorite writers; to current news topics; and even to politics. When he put his mind to it, he could be the most captivating and charming man. She didn't really believe his name was Chucky, no mother could be that cruel. And due to their conversation and how well versed he was in a variety of subjects, she was thinking maybe she was off on his age. From the basis of their talk, she would say he could be anywhere from his early twenties to his late thirties. But if he was in his late thirties, she wanted to know his beauty secrets.

Eating the last bite of his cheeseburger, Chucky pushed his plate away and looked at Brooke. "LF, I just spent the past hour pumping you for information you so carelessly gave to me. Me, a total stranger. You need to be more careful or I'm going to start thinking that blonde hair is real. You've got to be more careful." Standing up, he pulled out enough bills to cover their lunch and a tip.

"It's on me," he said and winked. "I'll see you later," he said, then left.

Waiting until she saw him disappear on his motorcycle, fitting that he would ride one, she murmured, "Not if I see you first." Brooke opened her purse and took out a pair of clear latex gloves and different shape bags. Putting on the gloves, she poured his remaining Coke into her glass and then carefully placed his glass into the plastic bag and zip locked it shut. She did the same with his utensils and his plate. Placing them all inside her Nordstrom's shopping bag, she took off the gloves, took out her cell, and dialed. "I've got it. And he's definitely in the law enforcement or has been. And see if the name Chu- -" Getting out of her seat, she turned and saw the man behind her had a shirt on that said CHUCKIE'S. "Never mind." Who did this guy think he was Keyser Soze? Well, she would soon find out.

The waitress returned to the table to clean and noticed the missing items. She raised an eyebrow.

"I'm sorry. Here," Brooke apologized, handing the waitress two hundred dollar bills, "one is for you and the other is for the items. He has an oral disease and I just don't think its safe even after being soaked in bleach and Lysol for anyone else to use these things."

Shock widened the harried waitress eyes as she nodded.

"Thanks," Brooke said, departing. Let's see if he comes back here and eats again, she thought with a laugh.


	7. Chapter 7

"Come in," she answered, as her fingers flew across the keyboard.

"Hello, Brooke," Ridge greeted.

She fought her body's natural instinct to respond to him. She kept typing. "Hello, do you have the new sketches ready to show me?" Trying hard to sound nonchalant, she hoped she achieved it.

"No, I wanted to talk to you," he said, taking a seat across from her desk.

"Is there some problem with your new designs? Or getting the material for them?"

"No. And no. This isn't business related."

"Ridge, I'm really busy so if it's not business related could we discuss whatever it is later?"

"Discuss it when? Damn it, would you at least look at me?"

Turning her head towards him, she continued to type. She wouldn't let him get to her, she couldn't afford to.

"When would we discuss it? When do we discuss anything? You avoid me at every turn- -"

"I do not avoid you. Unlike some people I actually have a lot of work and a lot of catching up to do. In case you didn't know, my father was dying of a dreaded illness for a few months so I didn't give my work 100 of my attention."

Ridge was cut to the quick with Brooke's flippant remark. "Brooke- -"

"No, Ridge. You don't have to say anything. None of it was your fault, per se. And at the end of the day, I'm blown away by you really." Brooke's fingers left the keyboard and she turned her chair to face him. "By forgiving Taylor, the way you did, you showed me that sometimes love can conquer all. I am amazed, blown away by the depth of your love for her. I pray that one day I can find someone to love me with the same heart. I thought the love I had for you that allowed me to forgive you for the Thorne debacle was incredible, but you put me to shame."

"Brooke, I- -"

"No, Ridge. I thought you loved me but it pales in comparison to what you feel for Taylor."

This was a thousand times worst than he originally imagined. He never thought this conversation would turn out this way. She actually thought he loved Taylor more than her. Even at the height of their marriage, what he and Taylor shared didn't even come close to the awful, knockdown, drag out fights they had shared. He had to make her see that. "I was wrong."

"No, you weren't. I overestimated your feelings for me." She was proud of herself for not breaking down and having this very civil and truthful conversation with Ridge.

"I was. I said I had forgiven Taylor because like everything else in my life I took the easy path, the path of least resistance. And I was wrong. But more than being wrong I hurt the one person who has always been good to me, always loved me, and the person I love most in this world," Ridge cried, with his tears freely flowing.

No. No. He could not do this to her. He could not come in here and change his mind. "Ridge, you made your feelings perfectly clear. Not only did you forgive her, you stayed with her, and celebrated your anniversary with her. If you had one moment, one moment of doubt, then you never would have shoved your celebration in my face. You would have sent me some sign, some- - I don't know what, but you would have done something." She didn't want to get emotional, but damn it, it was Ridge. Her emotions were always involved with him. Her heart was always his, but she could fight it and she would. She smirked. "I'm going to make this easy so you can go back to designing and we don't have to have this discussion again. I believe you. I believe that your feelings in Italy were real. Every word out of your mouth to me was the truth. I believe if we weren't interrupted we would have made hot, passionate love like we haven't in years on that bed, Taylor, Thorne, and Stephanie be damned. I thank you for your words of encouragement, your nonsensical words, your goofy stories, stupid jokes that got me through Stephen's "illness." If it wasn't for you, I would have lost it. The giving and loving Ridge was the one who helped me through my darkest hours. I believe you know. I know you love me. That you're in love with me. I know you're so deeply sorry for anything and everything you've done to hurt me, hurt Budge, hurt Ric. That you imagine us having a grand life together, watching our hair turn greyer, seeing our children become parents, traveling the world together when we retire, I see it, too."

Through the tears, slight hope appeared in Ridge's eyes. He prayed she didn't crush it.

"I see it. I've seen it since the very first night. I never believed in love at first sight until I saw you. Then everything became crystal clear. I was engaged but even during a moment of passion, I didn't feel a tenth for him what I felt for you when our eyes connected. But I'm wiser now, I'm older and I've heard all this before from you- -"

Ridge opened his mouth, but she shook her head.

"Not only have I heard it, but I've lived it. I've stood before God and man and repeated sacred vows before. And I even lived out the beginning of my dreams with you. But it always ended because you took the path of least resistance. Your weakness has broken my heart one too many times." Turning back to her computer, Brooke began to type. "We're through," she said dismissing him.

He didn't know what to do. This wasn't what he expected, but, then again, did he deserve to expect anything? Wiping the tears from his eyes, Ridge rose and left her office.

Hearing the door close, Brooke allowed herself to feel and the tears poured from her.

_Heard it all before_

_(All of your lies, all of your sweet talk)_

_(Baby this, baby that)_

_But your lies ain't workin' now_

_Look who's hurtin' now_

_See I had to shut you down_

_I had to shut you down_

_Played the fool before_

_(I was your fool, I believed in you)_

_(Yes I did, yes I did)_

_But your lies ain't working now_

_Look who's hurtin' now_

_See I had to shut you down_

_I had to shut you down_

_Nothing you can do_

_And there's nothing you can say_

_That could persuade me to stay with you another day_

_You have crossed the line to the point of no return_

_What you do from here on out, I am no longer concerned_

_See I_

_Played the fool before_

_(You had a good game, I must admit)_

_(I was hit, but now it's over)_

_But your lies ain't working now_

_Look who's hurtin' now_

_See I had to shut you down_

_I had to shut you down_

_Ooh, used to hang on to your every word_

_But the more you lied to me the more I hurt_

_The things you used to say would sound so sweet_

_I'm naive, good to believe_

_Played the fool before_

_(You were my boo, I trusted you)_

_(For way too long, way too long)_

_But your lies ain't working now_

_Look who's hurtin now_

_See I had to shut you down_

_I had to shut you down_

_Heard it all before_

_(All of that work, it wasn't my car you saw)_

_(Baby, I swear it wasn't me)_

_But your lies ain't workin' now_

_Look who's hurtin' now_

_See I had to shut you down_

_I had to shut you down_

* * *

"Brooke, this is Adrian Sword."

Immediately putting down Eric's designs, Brooke devoted her full attention to the conversation. "Hello, Adrian. Do you have something for me?" she asked eagerly.

"There was nothing on the state level, so now I'm going to search at a federal level and hopefully something will come up there."

Brooke sighed her disappointment. She had so been hoping Chucky's identity would be revealed today. He had been on her mind constantly since their last encounter. Oh, well. A few more days wait wouldn't kill her.

"Brooke, did you notice an sort of accent? I want to know if I should do an international search."

She thought for a moment. "Yes, he did but it was a Midwestern or Southern one. Those are the only places I've noticed people saying "pop" rather than soda or coke."

"Okay, good to know," Adrian said. "I hopefully will have something for you in the next few days."

"Thanks, Adrian."

"You're welcome," he returned then hung up the phone.

"A new lover?" Stephanie questioned, walking into Brooke's office.

"No," she answered politely, picking up Eric's designs. "Did you need something?"

Stephanie was taken aback; this wasn't going the normal way her conversations with Brooke went. Could Paris have changed her? She studied her nemesis. No, you couldn't teach an old dog new tricks. "If you want, I can set you up. Jonathan has a lovely nephew a few years older than you who was widowed a few years ago."

Stephanie was in the matchmaking business, good to know. "Thanks, I'll keep that in mind." She went back to Eric's designs, jotting notes on her tablet.

"Ridge bought Taylor the loveliest ruby and gold earrings and matching necklace for their anniversary. He got the girls matching ones, also."

"That was sweet of him, I'm sure they're lovely. Next time we're all out together, you should tell Taylor to wear them," she responded without ever lifting her head.

This was frustrating. Stephanie was trying to get a rise out of Brooke, but nothing was working. Ridge and Taylor instantly got to her, but today nothing. She wondered if Ridge had done something to upset her. "Amber told me that you had breakfast with her and Deacon and that you warned them off of Ric and Bridget."

"Of course she told you, Amber tells you everything. You probably know how many times and in what positions she and Ric had sex. Ugh, she shivered. She didn't even want to imagine or picture that. "I didn't warn them away. I told them they should be with the person they could be completely truthful with and loved deeply."

"Like you and Ridge?" the older woman asked sarcastically.

"On our good days."

"Your short-lived marriages to Ridge were nothing like the enduring love that he and Taylor share."

How did she want this conversation to end? She could be mean, sarcastic, spiteful, or blasé. "Yes, they have been married for a long time."

"That's a sign two people are truly connected and matched for each other. You didn't have that with Eric, Ridge or obviously with Thorne. Doesn't that say something to you?"

Those men were dicks, but she wouldn't say that.

"Ric and Amber have had to overcome a lot, they are perfectly suited and it would be best for you not to interfere. Maybe if you went out with John, he's named after his uncle, you could concentrate on your love life instead of your children's."

"If you think that seducing, trailer trash, child molester is good for my son, a boy you claim to love, then you must be smoking crack." Brooke paused and changed her tone before Stephanie could react. "Once I come to terms with Stephen's miraculous recovery and my near tumble off of the Eiffel Tower, I wouldn't mind if John gave me a call."

The jump from anger and disgust to sarcasm and calmness surprised Stephanie. Who was this Brooke Logan? Maybe Massimo's plan didn't work, but if she was willing to see another man things would definitely be looking up. She would have to call Jonathan as soon as she went back to her office. Brooke could be his family's headache and shame.

"Stephanie, I need to get these designs back to Eric so we can chat later," Brooke stated with a straight face.

Stephanie didn't have a comeback for Brooke's remark. She didn't know if she liked Brooke's non-reactions. Maybe she needed to have a talk with Ric and Bridget and tell them what their mother was trying to do. Their anger would keep Brooke away from Ridge for a while. "Keep your hands off of Ridge and Thorne."

"Got it. Hands off," she agreed, burying her head in the designs.

In a huff, Stephanie slammed the door behind her as she left.

Brooke looked up and laughed. The old goat was upset that she hadn't gotten to her. It felt good. All the feelings of wanting and needing Stephanie's approval and love were gone. Man, it was amazing what one hired assassin could accomplish.


	8. Chapter 8

Placing her card and Hershey kisses in the space she created on his desk, Bridget's eyes stopped suddenly upon some documents. Gently removing the documents from the pile of designs they were half-hidden under, she quickly scanned the contents. Ridge and Taylor were getting a divorce. Was this why Ridge had been so melancholy? No that couldn't be it, from these papers it says he was the initiator of the divorce. He was choosing to leave Taylor, not the other way around. Was he regretting his decision to forgive Taylor? Her heart leaped at the thought. Ever since Ridge walked out on them after learning Eric was her biological father, she prayed and hoped one day her parents, her real parents, would get back together. Maybe the time was now.

What could she do to facilitate such a reunion? She had been leaving him candies, cards, and other little knick-knacks that he loved every since she had noticed his change in attitude. Maybe she could spray her mother's perfume on the cards or forge her signature on them. If she did say so herself, she forged a flawless Brooke Logan signature, which came in handy during her high school English Literature class. She had read all the books the teacher had assigned, so why bother going to the class?

She had to take things slow. Her mother was still angry and hurt that Ridge once again chose Taylor, but didn't she understand Ridge took the easy way out? The least controversial. As much as Ric claimed he was nothing like their real dad, his staying with Amber was the same as Ridge staying with Taylor all these years. Because really the only people who rallied against Amber were her, their mother, and their dad, the rest of the family pretended they didn't remember how Amber was introduced to her and Ric. Sometimes she felt as if more important than taking the easy road, as if leaving with Amber was easy, was proving Ridge wrong. Ric was so busy proving Ridge wrong, he didn't realize he and his dad were both men stuck in marriages to women they really didn't love. Or at least not like they should have loved them to be married to them. But that was a headache for another day. Today, armed with her new knowledge, she needed to figure out a way to put her family back together.

"Ridge, I was looking at these numbers- -," Ric began, swinging open Ridge's office door after the briefest of knocks. "Budge, what are you doing here?"

Getting up from Ridge's desk as she nonchalantly pushed the divorce papers back under the designs, Bridget walked around the desk. "I needed to talk to Ridge."

"After what he did to Mom?" he questioned.

"He didn't do anything to Mom, Ric."

"He forgave Taylor."

"And you forgave Amber."

The two siblings stared at each other in uncomfortable silence.

"Amber didn't do anything wrong," Ric countered.

Bridget nodded her head. "Right," she said sarcastically. "Tell that to Mom, better yet hire an Amber clone when little Eric becomes a teenager and see if you feel the same way then."

Knowing there was no way to change her mind, Ric decided to drop the Amber subject. "Why do you need to see Ridge?"

"I'm part of Forrester, too, you know. As is my husband."

"Yes, the winner that he is."

"Hey, you watch your mouth. Deacon may be rough around the edges, but he's a good man. And more importantly, everyone and their mother hasn't slept with him."

"At least not in LA, yet, but give him time. Besides, you're right, he's much more upstanding and classier than Amber. I think having sex with your new bride with the phone off the hook so your in-laws could hear every moan and groan is super classy."

A fierce anger and embarrassment swept over Bridget like she had never known before. "You take that back. How could you say something so horrible and cruel?"

Damn. Ric took in his sister's bright red face, the unspent tears, and realized Budge had no idea what he was talking about. No one had told her. Damn, he thought. Why hadn't he been thinking? Of course, no one told her. Who would? He couldn't imagine telling little Eric something like that about his wife. How did he get out of this with the least amount of damage and hurt to his sister?

"Ric, I'm waiting. How could you say something like that? How could you think of something like that?" Bridget cried, waiting for her brother's answer. "Is this your way of getting back at me? It's not my fault you fell for Amber's game, hook, line, and sinker. Don't blame me because she molested you, took advantage of your innocence, used your gullibility against you, blame her for that, don't you drag Deacon into this."

Nothing made him see red faster than people talking about Amber, particularly the way they met and came together. "He called Mom's office with Dad and Ridge there and they heard him making love to you on your wedding night. He wanted them to know there was no way you could get an annulment on grounds that the marriage wasn't consummated."

Bridget staggered away from her brother and leaned against Ridge's desk. The tears flowed freely down her face. Her world was shattered. Looking into her brother's eyes, she saw the truth, she knew that Deacon had indeed done what Ric said.

Walking into his office, Ridge saw Ric's and Bridget's tears and felt the tension and despair and anger in the room. "Ric, Bridget, what's wrong?" he inquired, anxious.

Moving over, Ric stood in between his sister and Ridge. "Nothing."

"Ric, something is obviously wrong. You're both crying. Is it your mother? Did something happen to Brooke?"

"Our mother is none of your concern. Your concern is Taylor."

"Ric, did something happen- -"

"No," Bridget whispered, "nothing happened to Mom."

Ridge let out a sigh.

"Did you hear Deacon's broadcast of our wedding night?" she asked, unflinchingly.

Ridge's heart broke. His little girl. The baby he helped bring into the world was asking him- - no, he looked into her eyes and saw that she already knew the answer. She was just looking for another confirmation. He moved his gaze to Ric and found the culprit in Budge finding out what dastardly deeds her husband had been into. Seeing the flush in Ric's cheeks, he immediately, even after all these years, knew the signs of Ric's anger. It was nice to know some things never change, like Ric's anger letting his tongue run away from him.

"Did you?"

"Deacon is a different man than the one you married. He l- -" He couldn't lie to her, he had done enough lying to her through her lifetime. Deacon didn't love anyone, but himself. "He's trying to make your marriage work."

"Did you?" she asked, raising her voice.

"Budg- -"

"Don't you dare, call her that," Ric shouted.

"Answer the question, Ridge. Did you hear the sounds of my virginity being taken or not?"

Closing his eyes, he opened them slowly with tears coming out of them. "Yes."

"What a pair we are Eric Junior. You married the gold digging, child molester and I married the gold digging pervert. Oh my- -" Bridget heaved, barely making the trash can. With a wipe of her mouth, she ran out of his office with Ridge and Ric in hot pursuit.

"Ridge, this has nothing to do with you so stay out of it," Ric commanded, blocking Ridge's entrance into the women's bathroom where Bridget had run into.

"Ric, I love Bridget. And obviously your temper has gotten the best of you, so before that happens again let me talk to Bridget."

"No! She needs her dad right now and that's me when Mom's not available," Ric spat, as he walked into the ladies' room, slamming and locking the door in Ridge's wet face.

* * *

Jumping up from her desk, Brooke grabbed the duffle bag from underneath the bed. She raided her office drawers throwing samples of Brooke's Bedroom's lingerie into the bag. She threw in a few versatile looking pieces from Eric's latest casual wear designs. Zipping the bag and grabbing her purse, she opened her office door and grabbed the paper printing out at Megan's printer. "Megan, if anyone is looking for me, call me on my cell phone."

"Where are you going?" Megan asked to the retreating back, wondering what had gotten into her boss and friend since she left her office minutes ago.

Brooke paused and looked at the paper in her hand.

"_I think it's time we got to know each other better, don't you? Your flight leaves in one hour."_

"It seems like I'm going to Fargo." Running to the elevator, she jumped in before the doors could close on her.

Did Brooke just say she was going to Fargo? As in the movie? Wasn't that somewhere in the Midwest? What on earth was going on?


	9. Chapter 9

Stepping foot into the small airport, Brooke was amazed that it was actually two stories and an international airport. Did it really count as international when you could drive to Canada in less than three hours?

She was glad she had changed into Eric's casual navy two piece pantsuit. It made her feel less out of place surrounded by all the jeans and khakis. Looking around, she saw no sign of Chucky, but she did see a sign with her name on it. Or rather, one that read LF. "Hello, I'm Brooke Logan," she greeted the stranger.

"Hello, Ms. Logan. I'm Bobby Olson and I was asked to escort you," the average height middle-aged man informed her.

"That's great."

"Do you have any more luggage?" he asked, looking towards baggage claim.

"No, I traveled light."

"A woman after my heart," he joked.

Brooke smiled.

"Let me take your bag and follow me." He grabbed Brooke's bag and led her outside to the sun.

Brooke quietly watched the countryside with spots of houses and shops as they zoomed down the interstate in a Ford Explorer. Why on earth had she taken off without alerting anyone to her whereabouts? Because a mysterious man, calling himself Chucky, asked her to? No, it wasn't that. Maybe it was because he intrigued her. He reminded her of working in the chem lab. The mystery of trying to put the puzzle together, trying to figure out all the pieces. And Chucky was definitely a puzzle. One like she had never known.

And maybe, just maybe she appreciated the fact that he helped take her mind off of her troubles. Since meeting him, she hadn't been constantly consumed with Stephen and his betrayal, the sad state her family was in because of his lies, Ridge's stab in the back and later his confession that he was in love with her, nor her children's horrendous marriages. She had to give him credit for doing that. She would thank him, if she didn't think it would go to his already, sizeable head.

Speaking of Ridge, she hadn't given herself time to ponder their last conversation. Part of her felt vindicated, finally after all these years, he admitted their relationship didn't end because of lack of love but because of cowardice on his part. She had always known that in her heart. Always felt in her heart that Ridge loved her, was in love with her. And now she knew for sure. It was finally confirmed. But now she wasn't sure which was worse: having the love of your life falling in and out of love with you; or having the love of your life being too afraid to stand up to the naysayers so you could live happily ever after? She was leaning towards the cowardice. Being in love with a mama's boy didn't say much about her and her "choice" of soul mate. If she called Miss Amy Vining and Miss Dara Jensen right now, they wouldn't be able to stop laughing at her and Ridge's declaration.

Maybe she should have allowed Ridge to talk more, explain himself. But really what was there to explain? You lost our first child so I dumped you and went back to the safe, lovable Caroline. I turned to you after Caroline died, but when controlling, dependable Taylor came onto the scene and gained my mother's approval, I tossed you aside again. Our daughter, not just of biology but also more importantly of our hearts, proved not to be my biological daughter but my sister I had to leave you again even though you were pregnant with our child, so my dad could be a real father to her while I was a real father to my biological son. No, it was definitely best that she stopped him when she did. If he had uttered any of those thoughts or rather truths, she would have started throwing things at him and never would have stopped. Their time was over.

Could Chucky be her next adventure? She almost heaved at the very thought of it. Although there was something about him that drew her in, she knew for sure it wasn't romantic. But something was there.

Turning off the highway, the SUV made the transition to the long dusty road leading to a quaint little house at the edge of a farm.

"Is that corn?" Brooke asked, trying to catch a glimpse of what was surrounding the house.

"Yes. The sugar beets are further out."

She nodded as the Explorer came to a stop in front of the house.

Picking up her bag, Bobby got of the SUV and walked around to help her out.

"Thank you."

"My pleasure, ma'am. Follow me."

She followed him through the unlocked front door, through the entry way, living room, and into the kitchen.

"Make yourself at home," he said, disappearing out of the backdoor.

She wanted to ask where Chucky was, but felt silly calling her blonde mysterious rescuer by that name. So instead she nodded again and took a seat at the table.

Two and a half hours. Two and a half hours, she had been waiting to meet the most infuriating, selfish prick known to mankind. She had already explored the downstairs of the very homey, lived in looking home. The simple country patterned sofa and love seat. The matching easy chair with its worn arms was obviously very loved and very worn. The dented scratched table had also seen better days. The dining room table and buffet had the quality and look of items passed down from generation to generation.

Following Bobby's advice, she had made herself a sandwich from the plentiful supplies in the fridge. She had called Megan and given her detailed information about where she was, but not the reason why or whom she was with. She had left messages for both of her children, neither of whom she could find anywhere, so they wouldn't worry needlessly. She even caught Jamal on his cell phone so she wouldn't have to talk to Katie and told him that she was out of town and to call her on the cell, if she was wanted or needed.

Standing at the backdoor for the millionth time, staring at the endless sea of corn, she wanted to scream. If she thought for one second she could go out there and find Chucky without getting lost, she would have been gone two hours ago. As if having sensed the limitations of her patience, Chucky walked through the kitchen door with his fitted jeans, blue shirt, cowboy boots, and his cowboy hat riding low on his head. "Hey now, glad that you could make it," he greeted, walking to the fridge and drinking the milk straight from the container.

Hey now? Glad you could make it? Is that all he had to say to her? After he kept her waiting for almost three hours.

"Go ahead, let it all out. No, wait," he said, pulling out a chair from the kitchen table. "I better have a seat so I can fully enjoy my birth mother going off on me for the first time."


	10. Chapter 10

Brooke stood in the middle of Chucky's kitchen in stunned, disbelief. This infuriating, frustrating, aggravating, annoying, young man was her birth son. How- -

The stove beeped.

Chucky jumped up out of his seat and pressed some buttons on the stove, silencing it. He grabbed his hat and walked out the kitchen. "Let's go, if you're going," he said over his shoulder, never slowing his pace.

His words put her into action. She quickly ran to catch up with him.

He opened the door to his pick-up which had definitely seen better days.

She had barely shut the door when the truck reared off, at a speed she would have thought impossible by the look of it.

_Well they shouldn't have played that good_

_I got carried away and let the music go to my head_

_Well she shouldn't have worn that dress_

_The way it curled around when she was spinning_

_Just killed me dead_

The blonde gentleman, who had declared himself her son, sang along loudly and off key to the country song as he pumped up the volume, beating his hands on the steering wheel.

_My heart began to tell my body and my soul_

_That it had gotten in the mood to lose control_

_Oh no, when did neon light turn into moon glow_

_When did that jukebox turn to a rainbow_

_I'm about to give into this urge_

_One more slow dance with her arms around me_

_One more long glance and nothing will slow me down_

_I got no chance, if I'm not in love I'm on the verge_

Brooke stared at him in the light, the full moon provided. Was he truly the child she had given up for adoption all those years ago? Now looking at him with new eyes, she could see his resemblance not to just to her and Ridge, but to all their family. He had her nose, but Ridge's mouth. She was pretty sure those were Eric's ears, Stephanie's forehead, her Nana Henderson's chin, her mom's cheekbones, Bridget's eyes. Or rather Bridget had his eyes. He definitely had the Douglas attitude of superiority down pat. Yes, this was the infant in the hospital that she refused to look at after he was born, for fear she would fall madly in love with him on sight. But due to a mix up at the nurse's station, she did see him and spent a few minutes alone with him until an embarrassed nurse came back to retrieve him. In those few minutes, she had tried to study his features so intently but through the drugs and the tears it was difficult to tell who he looked like or burn his tiny features into her brain.

There were so many things she wanted to ask him, to tell him. She never thought he would look for her. Never imagined this moment. She had prayed and hoped for it, but never imagined it would actually happened. She was riding in a dilapidated truck with her first born son. A grin spread across her face. This was one of the best days of her life. After all the heartache and turmoil of these past few months, it was nice to have this precious surprise thrown into her lap. All she wanted to do was look at him and enjoy it.

The truck came to a stop in front of another farm house and Chucky jumped out without a word. Pondering whether she would get out or not, the sounds of children screaming stopped her.

"Daddy! Daddy!" Voices rang out in the still night.

She was a grandmother again. The girl and boy appeared to be older than Little Eric.

Chucky dropped to his knees and threw open his arms. Capturing the delighted duo and kissing them everywhere, she sighed at the scene in front of her. With a nod of his hat to the older woman standing in the doorway, he got to his feet and carried the two squirming children back to the truck.

The kids climbed in and happily sat next to her.

"Hi," they said in unison.

"Hello," she greeted the two, finally seeing them clearly. The little boy, obviously the older of the two, was a handsome little boy around four or five with olive hued skin. And the adorable, burnt sienna skinned little girl was about three.

Her son climbed into the truck and slammed the door behind him as he revved it up and took off. "Guys, this is your Grandma, I was telling you about."

"Hi, Grandma. I'm Michael. I'm 4. But you can call me, Mikey."

"Hi, Mikey," she smiled, with her tears streaming down her face.

"I'm Annika. I 3."

"Hi, Annika."

"It's Annie, like the movie," Mikey corrected.

Shaking her head furiously with barrettes swinging dangerously, Annika corrected her brother. "Uh-uh, it's Annika, right, Daddy?"

"Right, Sunset."

Annika stuck her tongue out at her brother.

"Annika, put that tongue back in your mouth, before I take it," her father quickly warned.

The stuck out tongue disappeared.

Brooke kept her smile to herself. How she remembered these days with Ric and Bridget. Before she knew it they were back at Chucky's house.

The kids followed her out and both held her hands and escorted her inside the house. When they reached the living room, they let go of her hand and quickly kissed the picture of two brunettes, whom she assumed were her son's parents. Then they took her hands again and pulled her into the kitchen.

"Daddy, can we have a snack since you found Grandma?" Mikey asked, with his sister nodding in agreement.

"Didn't Mrs. Fjelstad give you dessert?"

"But you found Grandma," Annika chimed in.

"Yeah," Brooke added.

"Fine," he caved. "One piece of chocolate cake after you put on your pjs, turn down your beds, and put your backpacks up."

As soon as he finished issuing orders, the pre-schoolers took off.

Brooke took a seat as he pulled the chocolate cake out of the cake dish.

"Michael Peter was adopted from Cambodia when he was 8½ months. Annika Ruth was adopted from Liberia at 7 months," Chucky informed her.

She nodded, still unable to talk to her son. Her son. She couldn't get over that.

"It's a lot to take in, huh?"

She nodded again.

"You'll get use to it. It just takes some time. The kids are going to love having their own Grandma at their beck and call. Are you close to Little Eric?"

She nodded again.

"It's- -"

"Daddy, we're ready," Mikey declared, dressed in his blue and white striped footie pajamas.

"Yeah, we're ready," Annika repeated, dressed in her pink and purple flowered footie pajamas.

"Well, pull up a seat pard'ners and get ready for some milk and chocolate," he announced with a twangy accent.

As the chocolate cake and milk were passed around, Brooke realized this was the first time she had seen her son truly smile and enjoy himself. The obnoxious, condescending man had been replaced by a loving, gentle, funny man whom warmed her heart.


	11. Chapter 11

"They down?" Chucky asked, nursing a cup of coffee at the kitchen table.

Brooke nodded. "Do you want to check on them?"

He shook his head. "Nah. I'll check on them when I go up. I'll let them savor Grandma tucking them in."

Pouring herself a cup of coffee, she had to pinch herself. She couldn't believe all of this was happening. She sat opposite of him, waiting for the questions that were sure to come. She hoped she could give him the answers he needed and wanted.

"So I bet you're wondering about all the cloak and dagger stuff I did on you?"

"Just a bit."

"Well, I guess I should start by introducing myself. Hello, I'm Matthew Sven Olsen. My friends call me Sven."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, they call me Sven when they want their lights punched out. The rest of the time they call me Matt."

"It's much better than Chucky."

"I wanted to throw you off your game since I was on your turf," he replied.

"But you already had the advantage of knowing who I was, our connection, seemingly everything about me. Is there anything you don't know about me?" she asked, half-joking, half-serious.

He tilted his head and stared intently at her without really seeing her. "Dress size 7. Blouses sometimes a 9 or 11 for arm length. Shoe size 9. You are a natural blonde. Nah, I think I know everything except maybe what type of birth control you're currently using."

Her mouth dropped open. "Are you serious?"

"You were a great supporter of the pill from the time I was born until you married Thorne, then," he shrugged his shoulders.

"What are you?" she questioned, mystified, curious, and slightly frightened.

Reaching into his wallet, he pulled out a card and handed it to her. "Matt Olsen, PI."

Brooke examined the card. "You're a private investigator. That makes sense and everything much clearer. You are very good."

"I know. I have my dad and my Uncle Bobby, whom you met, to thank. When I wasn't on the tractor, much to my mom's disgust I was in the police car with them. They wanted me to have choices."

She nodded. "Yeah, you don't want your kids to feel like they're forced to go into the family business."

"Yeah, you didn't join the catering world. Well other than the night you met Ridge."

"You are thorough. How does your wife feel about all the time you spend investigating your subjects?"

"When I meet her, I'll ask."

"But the kids?"

"Mikey and Annie were my siblings once upon a time. My parents, Janice and Terry, died in a car accident their first night out after Annie came home."

Brooke gasped. He had lost both his parents at once. She instantly thought of the feelings she'd experienced when she thought Stephen was dying. She could only begin to imagine the pain he felt and still did. "I'm so sorry."

"Thanks. It's been two-and-a-half years so time has helped. Besides it was obviously their time to go. I'm sort of glad they went together, I don't think either of them would have been fully alive without the other one," he offered. The pain of his loss was evident in his dark, brown eyes. "At least they died instantly, the poor truck driver who was rushing to get home to his wife and kids after a long haul woke up from his impromptu nap to the sounds of his eighteen wheeler crushing my mom's station wagon. But talking about mom and dad's death isn't why you're here. Well it is partly. I never had any desire to meet you while they were alive though they both asked and would have supported my search. But once they died and I found myself a single father to a six-month-old girl and a one-and-a-half year old boy I began thinking about how you opted out of parenting. Let me tell you on those nights when Annie was teething, I totally understood your decision."

"I didn't option out of parenting you. I thought it was the best decision for you. If I wanted to be selfish I would have kept you, like I wanted to. But I thought you deserved better than spending every other Christmas with me, a newly graduated college student with no real idea of what she wanted to do with her life and still crying over the loss of her fiancée, and the other Christmases with the Forresters, whom I'm sure you've thoroughly investigated also."

"Of course. And please don't think I was judging you. I thank you. I had the best life. Actually it was a lot like yours, if you replace the siblings with cousins. I had the greatest parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins. I have relatives coming out of my ears. I got into the typical childhood scrapes, had the prerequisite number of broken and sprained parts. I went to college, graduated with my B.A. in psychology from the U of M, became a cop and later a PI when I discovered I spent a bit too long on the tractor by myself. I'm not so good at taking orders and the bureaucracy wasn't for me."

Brooke searched the brown eyes of the man she once carried inside of her. The truth radiated from him. He did have the life she prayed every night he would have. He had parents who adored him, a family that loved him, and a childhood that you read about in books. She sighed with relief. She had made the right decision.

"I could regale you all night with glorious stories about my perfect self," he smiled, "but my mom has two shelves worth of photo albums that do that justice. So tell me about your decision. I know the story my parents told me. You were a young woman, newly widowed. You felt you couldn't take care of me properly so you gave me up for adoption."

Ah, yes, the story she spun to make everything look more respectable in the small Minnesota town. "After Ridge broke off the engagement, I had to get away from him, from LA, from everything so I pawned my engagement ring and flew to Melrose to stay with my Grammy, my dad's grandmother. I didn't even notice the signs at first, then finally Grammy demanded that I go to the doctor. And sure enough he confirmed it. I was stunned. This was before the time of ultrasounds and such. The nearest the doctor could guess was I was more than likely pregnant with fraternal twins and one died and you hung on." She took a sip of her coffee and continued. "I drove up and down the interstate after his news and took stock of my life. I was jobless, the man I loved more than life itself no longer loved me or wanted to marry me. What did I have to offer a baby? The facts were Ridge proposed to me because I was pregnant not because he couldn't live without me. He loved Caroline. And while I knew she would have welcomed my baby with open arms, a part of her would always resent this reminder of Ridge's betrayal. And after my ideal childhood did I really want to offer my child Christmases in the even years with me and the Logans and Christmases in the odd years with the Forresters? I also feared if Stephanie decided I was unfit to be a parent, which she most surely would have, I couldn't nor could my parents afford to fight the Forrester name, money, and influence in a custody battle. Plus, who was Brooke Logan? She was a college graduate with an entry level job who had dumped her nice dependable fiancée for a handsome, debonair playboy, who in turn dumped her. My child, I decided on Interstate 94, deserved more than spending all day in daycare while I worked to earn enough for us to squeak by. I made the decision and I never wavered from it. Your assurances about your childhood and seeing the man you are reaffirm the decision I made."

"And Ridge never caught on?"

"We didn't see much of each other. He was busy with Caroline and their life together."

"You did make the right choice. That old hag would have dragged you through every court in this country to keep you from me," Matt assured her. "Let's freshen our drinks and I'll show you the baby, child, teenage, college, and post college life of Matthew Sven Olsen."

"I meant to ask you, Sven?"

"The oldest son of the oldest daughter in my mom's family gets the maternal grandfather's name. So my Grandpa was Big Sven and I was Little Sven."

Her son as part of a family tradition- -just what she wanted for him. She smiled as she refreshed her coffee and followed him into the living room.


	12. Chapter 12

Brooke sat on the bench under the shaded back porch. Happily she rocked back and forth as she watched Mikey and Annika play.

"If I didn't know any better. I would take you for a person in their natural setting, city girl," Matt commented, chewing on a piece of hay.

She smiled. As much as he tried to frighten her with his cowboy from the hick act, she now saw through it. He fit into city life as easily as he did this country life. This aw-shucks act he was putting on with her, never would have been able to find out as much as he had about her life and never would have blended in enough to follow her undetected. She'd bet her last dollar he made a handsome figure in a fitted suit.

Over her two week visit, she had come to appreciate Matt's dry wit, biting cynicism or what he called realism, his cockiness, and his arrogance. She didn't know how she missed it before but at times it was like he was channeling Ridge, when she first met him, and Stephanie. He had definitely inherited the Douglas arrogance, but it was softened by his smile, his Midwestern twang, and his parents' influence.

She had met his family. Bobby that picked her up from the airport was his uncle. And contrary to what Matt would have her to believe, he was only helping his uncle with the farm while his cousins, Erik returned with his wife and kids from vacation, and Dean returned from his honeymoon. Matt, she discovered only helped out on the farm, during harvest time and as relief for vacations and sicknesses. Both his mom and dad were from this town, the majority of their families still lived in town, so she had met the Olsen and Johannason families en masse. With each meeting of Matt's family, her heart felt more at ease as she saw for herself that he had the life she had envisioned and prayed for him. She wished that Ric and Bridget had had a life like this instead of the drama filled one they did have.

With daily phone calls from Bridget and Ric reassuring them that she was okay, occasional voicemails from Ridge updating her on his life, and only a few calls from Megan,she had been able to enjoy her time with Matt, Mikey, and Annika. Being with the kids made her fondly reminisce on Ric and Bridget's babyhood and childhood, she shared some of the stories with Matt. The reminiscing was making her thinking of adopting herself, once she had healed from everything that had happened recently. Being here away from everything and enjoying the simplicity of life were going a long to helping her put everything in perspective.

Although he hadn't specifically asked, Brooke told Matt about her family and the Forresters. With a grace, she didn't even know she possessed she was able to tell stories that showed everyone in a positive, yet realistic light. Who knew she had stories like that buried in her? She still couldn't read him most of the time so she wasn't sure if he liked the stories, but since he didn't stop her or walk out of the room when she was telling them she took that as a sign to continue.

"You haven't asked me any questions- -" She paused. She realized he really hadn't asked her any questions pertaining to her family, it was all volunteered information on her part. "Are you curious about Ridge?"

Taking a seat in the rocking chair across from her, he looked at her thoughtfully. "Other than stories you shared, I really don't feel like hearing more about a coward."

"He wasn't a coward- -"

"That's the exact reason you can't get over him. You jump to his defense- -"

"You have no right to speak on a relationship you have only read about. You've never met Ridge. You don't know what our relationship is like or what it once was," she retorted angrily. She wasn't jumping to Ridge's defense, in her opinion, but she wasn't going to let his character be maligned by someone who hadn't even met him.

"Hit a nerve did I? Good. Think about what I said. Yes, I haven't met him, but I've read tons and just based on what I've read I wouldn't leave a pig alone with him. And before you open your mouth, I'm not talking about those damned tabloids. I'm talking about from PI reports, people who worked with him, for him, and around him. Now if a man who can't even stick around for longer than a month after his fiancée lost their first child isn't a coward and a loser, than what is he? And how is it that one moment, he was willing to commit his life to you one month, but he couldn't stick around another three to see you grow larger with his child? What do you call a man like that?"

It frightened her slightly that he could talk so matter-of-factly about Ridge. But how else should he react and respond, while Ridge was his birth father, they had no relationship, they didn't know each other. Maybe she was foolishly hoping there would be some mystical connection between the two. She guessed wrong. "I would call him young, confused, immature, and selfish."

"My daddy would have whipped my hide for days if I ever treated a woman the way Ridge treated you. Well, if he was all those things why did you ever get with him in the first place?"

"Love is blind besides I suffered from the same characteristics- -"

"I don't believe that for a moment. You didn't grow up overnight just because you were pregnant- -"

"You did make me stop thinking about someone other them myself."

He shook his head. "You were always the type of person who considered others feelings. Women walk around everyday pregnant and couldn't give two cents about the life within them. And men do the same thing. So if he was such a great guy that you wanted to join your life with his, why didn't you tell him about the pregnancy? And him going back to his ex, isn't a good enough reason."

Thinking long and hard, she pondered the answer to his question. If there was one thing she had learned quickly was Matt accepted nothing less than the truth from those around him. Maybe it stemmed from him being a cop once upon a time and from being a PI, constantly surrounded by people who lied every time they opened their mouths.

Over the years, she had thought about telling Ridge, but then she thought for what purpose. It would just hurt him and possible cause him to interfere in their son's life. "I was scared. I was terrified that he and Caroline would want to raise you and I would be left with the scraps of your life. I lived in fear that if I kept you, Stephanie would convince them that you would be better off raised in Beverly Hills than the Valley. I came from a working middle class family and I could never take on the Forresters in a court battle. Even being as naïve as I was then, I had a sense, an inkling of how dysfunctional the family could be and I didn't want you to know that dysfunction."

"But it was okay for Ric and Bridget?" he asked with real interest in the answer shining in his brown eyes.

"I was older, stronger then. I was there to protect them," she laughed bitterly. "I did a great job protecting them."

"Don't be so hard on yourself. You did what you could, what you thought was best. If I've learned anything in the past two-and-a-half years, it's that sometimes these parenting decisions are made by the seat of your pants. All you can do is pray you made the right decision and go with it. Ric and Bridget seem like fine individuals. You instilled in them a work ethic, taught them education is important and a necessity, to live up to their responsibilities, and restraint. Because if Amber did to Mikey what she did to Ric, I would have killed her," he paused, "Other than inheriting your horrendous taste in spouses, they seem okay."

"Well, thank you," she said, genuinely touched by Matt's approval, if that was indeed what this was.

"You definitely made lemonade out of the lemons you were given with that family."

"Grandma," Annika shouted, "time for Unca Bobby's drinks."

Brooke looked at her watch and realized it was time for their afternoon run to the men and take food and drinks with her two helpers. "You're right. You and Mikey put away the toys, then we'll wash our hands and get going."

The pre-schoolers quickly did their grandma's bidding and followed her into the kitchen, all under the watchful eye of Matt.

* * *

"This is everything," Brooke announced putting her last suitcase by the front door. How did she gain another suitcase? She didn't think she had bought that much when she went to town.

"I'll go put it on the truck," Matt replied, picking up the suitcase and walking outside with it.

Taking one final look around the house, she knew she would miss this place. She didn't know if she would see it again, if she would ever stand in the house where two lovely people, she would never get the pleasure to meet, raised the handsome young man, who was growing on her daily. She hoped they would keep in touch, but she didn't want to pressure him or make him feel like he was forced to do it.

"Okay, you ready," he asked, letting the door swing shut.

Nodding her head, she felt tears well up in her eyes. This adventure in her life was coming to an end, she prayed it continued in her real life. Closing the door behind her, she followed Matt out of the house. As she climbed into the SUV, she was surprised to see Annika and Mikey in the back seat. She thought she had said her good-byes to them last night. She couldn't imagine saying good-bye to them at the airport. It would break her heart. "Matt, what are the kids doing in the car? If you can't get anyone to watch them, I'll call a taxi."

"What and break their hearts? They've been begging me to go to Disneyland for ages."

"Disneyland?" What was she missing? What was he talking about, she asked, as he pulled onto the road and headed for the interstate.

Letting loose a boisterous laugh, Matt looked at her. "We're going to LA with you. I think it's about time I met all the players, don't you?" he winked, as he turned up the country music.


	13. Chapter 13

Was no one going to answer that, Matt thought as he leisurely walked down the stairs as he towel dried his hair. Where was everyone? He checked the kids' temporary rooms and saw no trace of them or Brooke for that matter either. He wanted to shout to see where they were, but he had tried that last night and all he heard was his own echo. This mausoleum was too big for all that. He couldn't imagine growing up in a house like this. He wondered if Ric and Bridget ever lost each other in a house this size. "Oh, keep your pants on," he said, as he swung open the front door.

Stephanie had her hand raised to knock when right before her eyes stood a very well built young man with a six pack, blonde hair, and brown eyes wearing nothing but low slung jeans and a towel around his shoulders.

"What is it that you wanted that you were killing the doorbell to get someone down here?" he asked, curtly.

Who did this arrogant young pup think he was? Obviously by his dress and attitude, he had to be Brooke's lover. Distraught over her father's fake illness, please. She had told Ridge it was all an act. Based on the fact the man didn't possess a French accent, she assumed Brooke must have picked him up since getting back to the States. Maybe this is the man she had disappeared with for two weeks. Was the whore that desperate that she had to sleep with much younger men? A man young enough to be her son. She shook her head. Did the woman have no shame? Thank goodness, Ric and Bridget were out of the house and didn't have to live with such filth.

"I know I look good, but I've got better things to do then to have women older than my Grandma stare at my physique. So what can I do you for?"

Stephanie gasped. How dare he? Yes, he was most definitely Brooke's lover. Only Brooke Logan could find this conceited, arrogant man attractive. While she was disgusted by Brooke's new low in the world of depravity, she smiled. This man could keep Brooke thoroughly occupied until she could get Ridge and Taylor back together. Once Ridge saw Brooke with her much younger lover, live in at that, he would see Brooke had recovered from the Paris incident and forgive Taylor on the spot. Yes, this was turning out to be a great day after all.

"Ma'am, are you hard of hearing besides being old and having a permanent frown on your face?"

"Young man, my name is Stephanie Forrester," she paused to let her name take effect.

Matt worked hard not to laugh in his biological grandmother's face. Man, was she a piece of work. The reports didn't nearly do her justice. "Matt Olsen," he said with the same haughtiness and let his name take effect.

"Is that name supposed to mean something to me?"

"Is yours?"

Huffing, Stephanie tried to look around him to see if she could locate Brooke.

"Is there something I can help you with Miss Forrest?"

"It's Mrs. Forrester. Is Brooke here?"

"Let me see if she's taking visitors," Matt retorted then promptly closed the door in her face. Quietly laughing, he stood by the door for a few minutes before losing his grin and opening the door again. "No, she's not taking visitors. Try again tomorrow. Or better yet, why don't you try calling first." Going to close the door, Stephanie thrust her foot inside the house.

"Did you tell her who was here to see her?" she asked outraged. She might need to get rid of him as soon as Taylor and Ridge were back together, she couldn't have this man hanging around Forrester, particularly with Deacon.

"My mama always told me a real lady or gentlemen could tell the signs when it was time to leave or they had outstayed their welcome," he said, shrugging his shoulders.

Enough already. He could not get away with talking to her like this. Did he know who she was? Brooke had one more thing to answer for. "Young man produce Brooke now- -"

"Or what? You're going to pout and yell until you get your way like the spoiled rotten old woman you appear to be. You know your daddy could have stopped behavior like this by putting you on his knee. And if not him, then your husband needed to take a hand to ya."

Stephanie's mouth dropped open at his words.

Matt smirked.

"You- - you- -" She turned red in the face.

"Matt, I thought I heard the door- -" Brooke began, walking towards the front door from the kitchen. "Who's there?" she asked, not being able to see around him. Standing on her tip toes, she peered over him and saw Stephanie. "Stephanie, are you okay?"

"You are truly a two bit whore. Letting your newest lover," Stephanie spat, "answer the door in less than nothing."

"Stephanie, if you- -"

"I got this one Brookie poo. Spoiled rotten and uncouth, why am I not surprised? Do be hatin' on my Brookie because she's woman enough to keep up with me and keep me satisfied," he winked. He moved closer to Stephanie and whispered. "Don't tell blondie here, but I like a little meat on the bones, if you know what I mean?"

Stephanie's face grew redder. He didn't think that was even possible. Right now the old woman was resembling a tomato.

"Oh and one more thing, if I ever hear you speak like that to my Brookie poo again, I will put you over my knee and finish the job your daddy and husband left undone." Pushing Stephanie's foot out of the house, Matt slammed the door once again in the older woman's face.

Brooke watched Matt as he turned to face her with the biggest smile on his face. She didn't know what to say. He was the first man to stand up for her in such a long time. She was touched, honored and all around speechless. Without being asked or prompted, he fought her battle with Stephanie. "You didn't have to do that."

"You never did answer the door so it was up to me to deal with the bothersome trash. What are you guys up to?" he asked, changing the subject dismissing Brooke's thanks.

Taking her son's lead, Brooke dropped the subject. "I invited Ric and Bridget over for dinner. The kids and I were outside deciding which of the vegetables in my garden we should cook."

Matt nodded as he followed her back to the kitchen. "Please tell me it's a spouseless dinner."

She smiled. "Yes. It's just your luck that both Amber and Deacon are busy tonight."

"Doing each other I'm sure."

She paused. "Matthew!"

"Oh, please don't tell me you haven't thought about it yourself."

She wasn't going to make Matt privy to her thoughts on her in laws so she ignored his statement.

"Morning, Daddy!" Mikey and Annika welcomed him.

Kissing each of the kids, he gladly accepted the cup of coffee from Brooke.

"Daddy, go get dressed. Grandma said we were going to the zoo today." Mikey informed him.

"Yeah," Annika chimed in.

"Yeah, Daddy. You're going to make us late and the monkeys might be sleep when we get there if we go too late," Brooke added.

Smiling brightly, he picked up his mug and headed out of the kitchen. He didn't know what he had expected to happen when he began his search for his birth mother, but LF was like nothing he had ever imagined or read about. His mom and dad would have liked her. She defied the odds and made something of herself. Maybe one day, he would tell her he admired her. After going to head to head with Stephanie for that short period of time, he had a much better understanding of what she had gone through over the past two decades and some change. That old lady was a piece of work. He could understand how she carried the men in her life balls in her purse. Stephanie Forrester exemplified what it meant to be a ball buster. LF was a hell of woman to put up with the witch for the sake of her kids. He could only imagine what it would be like to meet the rest of the Forresters.


	14. Chapter 14

"Mom, something smells delicious," Ric commented, hanging his jacket in the hallway closest. "Is that roast I smell?"

"I think it is. Oh my, something big is going down," Bridget added. "Are you and Ridge getting back together now that he is Taylor-free?"

"Budge, are you trying to make me barf? Mom is done with all things Ridge. So keep your childhood fantasies to yourself, please. Mom, where are you?"

"I'm in the kitchen. I thought we could eat in here," Brooke shouted.

Ric and Bridget paused and looked at each other. A roast and eating in the kitchen, their mom did have something big to tell them.

He prayed it wasn't that she was getting back with Ridge.

She prayed it was. Her family could be back together again, finally.

"Hey, Mom," they said simultaneously walking into the kitchen.

"Hey, babies," Brooke greeted, putting the last bowl onto the table.

Both Ric and Bridget noticed the three place settings. Ric sighed with relief. Bridget sighed with disappointment.

"Let's eat," Brooke instructed as they sat down and said grace.

They both waited for their mother to drop the bombshell as they made chitchat and talked about their day. Then finally as their scrumptious dinner turned to dessert, the moment they were waiting for came.

After handing them dessert plates with her Grandma's secret chocolate cake with French vanilla ice cream topped with hot fudge, Brooke looked at her children and took a deep breath. "I love having you both over for dinner. This is your home just as much as it is mine. I want you to know that."

Her children nodded their heads.

"I have something to tell you and I hope you both can understand or at least hear me out. I'll start at the beginning. When I was engaged to Ridge the first time, I lost our first child…"

With his barely touched dessert sitting in front of him, Ric shook his head. "You have another child, you never told us about?"

"You have a grown son with Ridge?!" She wasn't Ridge's firstborn, Bridget thought, someone else now had that title. "How could you not tell us?"

"To be honest, I didn't think it would be fair to him or his family," Brooke answered honestly.

"What about fair to us?" Bridget demanded.

"I have been fair to you- -"

"No, you haven't or you would have told us. How could you keep something like this from us?"

"What would you have done if I had told you?"

Bridget turned to Ric for support, but he shrugged his shoulders. "We deserved to know that we had a brother out there somewhere."

"No, you didn't. He deserved all the privacy I could afford him- -"

"So that means Ridge wasn't included in this privacy?" Bridget fired back.

Ric sat silently watching the volley between her mother and her sister. Budge was no longer Ridge's baby. Although they never discussed, he knew his little sister still thought of herself as Ridge's daughter and now her fantasy was being shattered with their mom's revelation. He was amazed that his mother had been able to keep a secret of this magnitude for so long. And he was astounded that not one single person in the Forrester family had even noticed that his mom had been pregnant. Was everyone on his father's side of the family really that unobservant or just that self-absorbed? Either way it was scary. Tuning back into his sister's ranting and whining, he figured he should jump in before she said something she regretted and couldn't take back. "Where is he?"

Bridget and Brooke both turned to look at him.

"What do you mean, Ric?" Bridget asked.

"Budge, think about it. Mom didn't tell us this intensely personal secret for the fun of it. So that means he found you, right?"

Bridget looked scared and horrified at the thought.

Brooke reached out to her and Ric, taking one of their hands into hers. "Yes, he did- -"

"And here I am," Matt said, stepping into the kitchen. "How are you two doing?"

Brooke sighed. "Didn't I tell you I would call you when I was ready for you?"

"Yeah, LF, you did. But I could tell Missy here," Matt replied, tilting his head towards Bridget, "was getting antsy. You were drawing it out. You don't ease off a band aid, you rip it. It's easier that way. Hi, I'm Matt Olsen."

"I'm Eric Forrester, Junior," Ric greeted, holding out his hand, while discreetly checking Matt out.

Matt took the offered hand and shook it firmly. He stared into the eyes of the young man in front of him. He saw a good kid, surprised and a little hurt LF hadn't told him her secret earlier. "Nice to meet you, Ric." Turning to Bridget, he held out his hand. "And you must Brid- -"

"Are you after my mom's money because if so, hit the road you're not getting a penny of it. Nor can you have any Forrester stock. Not from her or from Ridge. So if you're looking for a handout you're not getting it here," Bridget warned, standing up to face him down.

"Bridget, you apologize right this second. Who do you think you are little girl?! You don't speak like that to anyone," Brooke reprimanded, swiftly and furiously. "I understand you're hurt and upset with me, but you do not take it out on Matt."

"Oh, great so now you're defending him. He's been back in your life for five minutes and you're taking his side over your children's- -"

Brooke stood up and got directly into Bridget's face. "Bridget Elizabeth Forrester, you better change your tone and attitude right now or I will get my belt and put you across my lap. I'm reprimanding you for your rude behavior to a guest in our home. And for future reference, everyone in this room is my child."

"Tempers. Tempers. I didn't realize the women in the Logan family were the ones with the fiery tempers. Mrs. Sharpe, I didn't come here looking for any handouts or money. I've got enough money to live the life I'm happy and comfortable with for the rest of my life and my kids' lives. I know diddle-squat about fashion, have no desire to learn. I'm happy and content in the worlds I know best and I'm sticking with them. As for Ridge, I'm not sure I even want to meet the spineless jerk. I came to meet the woman who was brave enough to let me have the best life possible and had the sense God gave her to know that life wasn't with her. I thought her children would be equalaby as sensible, but I guess you can't win them all."

Bridget looked confused. What was going on here? Did he just call her dumb? Did he call Ridge spineless? Shouldn't he be needy and desperate to fit in, to be accepted by her and Ric? "Ridge isn't spineless nor is he a jerk- -"

"No? Then why is it just the three of you sitting here eating dinner? Shouldn't it be the four of you? Or more? Maybe if he had stayed married to your mother longer than five minutes and didn't dump her every time his mother and Taylor whistled and ya'll would still be a family."

"That's not- -" the youngest Forrester began, shaking her head.

"It's true, Budge. You know it. I know it. Hell, everyone knows it. He's not saying anything new. Finally, someone in this family that speaks the truth," Ric interjected.

"Hey, hey, don't be including me in any family type statements." Matt informed Ric.

"Why are you here then?" Bridget spat. "If we're not worthy enough for you to consider us family."

"It's simple. My parents died and I began thinking. They say the person you grow up to be is a fifty/fifty split between nature and nurture. Well, I know my nurture side. I thought I would find out about my nature side. And it's not that I'm better or you're not worthy, I just come from a normal family so all this is a bit much. So are you going to eat that because it looks mighty tasty."

Bridget pushed her untouched dessert towards Matt. He picks up the fork and takes a bite. "Damn LF, you're pretty, intellectual, and you make this meanest chocolate cake I've ever tasted. You know if it wasn't for your poor taste in mates that your two kids inherited, I would say you were the second perfectest woman, I ever met, next to my momma."

Bridget and Ric looked at each other. Did he just insult their choices in spouses? They both opened their mouths to say something, then shut them because they had both been wondering recently if they had hastily jumped into marriage. And that maybe just maybe their spouses were more into each other, than into them.

Well that hadn't gone so bad. Had it? Yes, Bridget had reacted poorly and Ric had been mum, but things could only get better from here. Right? Plus Matt had been on thebest behavior she had seen so far. She took in the sight of all her children together. She had never thought this day would ever come or would ever exist.


	15. Chapter 15

Why? That was the question of the day for Ridge Forrester as he sat waiting for his brother. In actuality it had been an ongoing question for as many years as he could remember, but he had become an expert at not answering that question and ignoring it. But since coming clean with Taylor, he finally had to face the question and answer it. Thorne was one of the whys he needed to answer.

"Yes, Macy. It sounds like a cute outfit."

Ridge heard his brother's voice right outside Thorne's office door.

"Are you sure you're going to be able to keep this a secret from your Mom and Darla until the second trimester? I bet you midnight and 3:00AM feedings for a month that you won't. Yes, I said a month. Mace, you're going to be sorry you made this bet. I love you, too. See you later," Thorne concluded, pressing end on his cell phone as he walked into his office. "Ridge? What are you doing here?"

"Hi, Thorne. I came to talk to you."

Thorne looked at his older brother suspiciously. If it didn't have to do with Forrester, he made sure he steered clear of his brother. "Can you please not say- -"

Shaking his head, Ridge finished the blonde's statement. "I won't say anything about Macy's pregnancy. Congratulations by the way."

Thorne nodded. "What can I do for you?"

Where should he start? In the car, in the shower, in his dreams, he said everything perfectly but now he was lost, not sure what to say. He knew what he wanted to say, but he wanted to say them in the right way. There had been more than enough confusion between them. Taking a deep breath, he began. "I'm sorry."

Stunned and puzzled, Thorne said nothing for a moment or two. "For?"

Ridge laughed bitterly. "For everything. I'm sorry I let Mother treat us differently and never said anything to

even- -"

"You don't have to apologize for that. It's not your place. When we were kids, you couldn't have done anything about it. And the same is true now that we are all adults. Mother should be the one apologizing. She's the parent. The mistake lies with her. So what else are you sorry for?"

This wasn't how he expected his first apology to go. But he wouldn't ponder that now, he would push on. "I'm sorry I didn't support you and Brooke."

Wow. The younger man, by two years, hadn't seen that one coming. His brother, Ridge, was apologizing for not supporting- - "Do you really think you could have supported us?"

Biting honesty, he sometimes forgot his kid brother had it in him like their youngest sister. He would repay the honesty with honesty. "No- -"

"Of course," Thorne mumbled, oddly disappointed though he knew what the answer was going to be.

"Let me finish. It wasn't because she was with you, my younger brother. Brooke could have been in love and engaged to Jesus Christ himself and I would have done everything I could have to sabotage the relationship. She was mine. Even when I wasn't with her, she was mine. I didn't want anyone else in her bed, in her heart. I didn't want another man raising my son and daughter. Does that make me a contradictory, selfish bastard? Hell, yes. But that's the truth."

"Am I supposed to applaud you for this honesty that's coming way too late? And when it's answers I already know. You're not saying anything new. Though it's nice to know Jesus and I would have been in the same boat. So what else are you apologizing for?"

Dr. Tom Hardy had warned him that his family and loved ones might not accept his apologies easily. Or even believe them to be sincere and that he had to be prepared for it. But this- - this wasn't what- - he didn't know what to think. This was the first time he had ever spoken like this about his feelings for Brooke, Bridget, and Ric. Taking a deep breath, he persevered. "I'm sorry for everything that happened in Italy."

Staring into Ridge's eyes, Thorne looked for any signs of insincerity but saw none. "What specifically are you sorry for?"

"For hurting you. For allowing you to develop feelings for Br- -"

Standing up to his full height, Thorne looked down on his sitting brother, outraged. "Allowed me?! You didn't allow me to do anything- -"

He wanted to roar back, but he didn't. That wouldn't be right. He hadn't explained himself fully or correctly. "If I had been a man and admitted my feelings for Brooke, none of this would have happened. Your friendship with her would have remained platonic, because she would have been your sister-in-law. Her place would have been by my side, in my bed. There would have been no confusion on that."

Thorne laughed. He should have known. His brother was back to his "I love Brooke" stage. He wondered what brought this on. "So why do you love Brooke this week? Is Taylor dying from some dreaded disease and has decided once again Brooke is good enough to be with you finally? Is Mother in a coma?"

This he had been prepared for. Tom had helped him see his pattern of turning to Brooke. "No, nothing is wrong with either Mother or Taylor. Portafino brought home the feelings I had buried for Brooke. As we reminisced about the past, I knew she was the one. But I took the easy way out and I wasn't truthful with her, myself, or with you- -"

Before Ridge could say another word, he was laying on the ground from the sucker punch his younger brother delivered to his jaw. Counting to ten, Ridge exhaled before getting to his feet. He had to remain calm, but Thorne wasn't making that easy.

"Get up. You selfish, arrogant, sanctimonious fool! Why don't you feed me some more of your bull- -"

"I get hit because you don't want to hear the truth. If you had believed you were meant to be with Brooke, you wouldn't have run off and married Macy at the first sign of doubt. You would have heard the woman you supposedly loved out. Heard her side of the story. But instead you ran to the woman you've always run to. The woman you always end up with. And then when you finally get Brooke back, when she finally forgives you, you leave her because you're not her soul mate. Hell, she isn't yours either. You had that beautiful creature wearing your name, your ring on her finger, and you get pissy and irritated because I still hold a place in her heart. You were the only man she had eyes for. But you fu- - You let Mother almost kill her, literally- -" He shook his head. "We've both done her wrong. We've both hurt her. So don't act like you're somehow better than me." Rubbing his jaw, he tried to ease away the sting of the punch. "I deserved the punch and probably more. So no hard feelings. I love you, Thorne Eric Forrester. I know I don't say it enough- -" Seeing the disbelief in Thorne's eyes, he corrected his sentence. "I don't say it at all. But that's changing. I also want to change our relationship. I don't just want to be your brother. I want to be your friend. I don't think we've been friends since I left for college. But I want us to be again. I've missed you. I know this won't happen overnight, but I'm willing to work on it."

Flexing his hand, Thorne contemplated his brother's words and actions. He didn't know what to think. He had never seen this Ridge Douglas Forrester before. He felt like he was walking in a mine field. "And Brooke?"

"I love her- -"

"And Taylor?"

"I loved her, but I'm not in love with her. Our marriage is over."

Okay, today was definitely the day for surprises. But he had to be sure. "Your choice or hers?"

"Mine."

Thorne sensed this all had something to do with whatever had happened in Paris. Brooke, Taylor, Ridge, none of them had been acting the same since Brooke returned. But no one was saying anything. Maybe Ridge was serious, if he was the one asking for a divorce. "Do you think Taylor is just going to roll over and play dead? She loves you."

"Taylor won't be a problem."

Something about the look in Ridge's eye and the tone of his voice instantly confirmed Thorne's thoughts. Something big went down in Paris and Taylor was obviously a part of it. "Do you think after everything Brooke is going to welcome you back with open arms? That Bridget and Ric are going to run into your arms screaming, 'Daddy!'?"

Ridge shook his head. "No. Well that's not true, in my deepest of fantasies, yes. But in all of my realities, no. All I can hope for and ask is that they forgive me."

"And you can live with that? Forgiveness?" Thorne asked in awe.

"Like it, no. Live with it, yes. What other choice do I have? I've done too much damage, too much time has passed for me to think we can all be one big happy family."

"I'll be telling Macy about this conversation. There are no secrets between me and my wife."

"There shouldn't be," Ridge responded, walking out of Thorne's office, closing the door softly.

Sitting in his chair, Thorne didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Instead he decided to simply let himself be astonished by what he had just witnessed and to contemplate his own guilt at the way his relationship with Brooke turned out.

* * *

"Why did you lurk for so long?" Brooke asked Matt as they watched Anni and Mikey get into everything in what had now become their playroom.

"Lurk?" he fired right back.

"Pester. Stalk. I was about to call the cops. You were beginning to frighten me- -"

"That's a lie. If you haven't called the cops or gotten a restraining order on that loony you call an ex-mother-in-law, you sure as hell weren't going to call on me."

He had a point, she thought. "Did you have to be so scary and mysterious?"

"I wasn't sure I wanted to meet you. Between my police academy training, my on the job undercover training, and my skills as a private investigator, I knew I had to know you well before I approached you. But everything I read about you was contradictory. Who was Brooke Logan," he whispered. "A modern day Jezebel/Delilah combo, a woman who loved to be tortured by the Forresters, or a woman with the worst taste in men in all humanity. What you'd done to Forrester was outstanding. It never would have gotten to where it is now without you at the helm. Yet, your love life almost clouded that. So I wanted to meet you. Then after our first run in, I wanted to talk to you when you were conscious but instead I ended up rescuing you again- -"

"I wasn't in need of rescue. I was fine- -"

His stare stopped her dead in her tracks. "If I'm being completely honest, LF, then you need to be, too. In Cannes, were you trying to commit suicide?"

Brooke paused. Had she wanted to kill herself? Had she been that weak? Or had she been that strong? It all depended on how you viewed suicide. "I didn't care, I think. I swam to clear my head and I was going to keep going until the pain, the hurt stopped. But when my leg cramped, I was fighting like hell to get rid of it. But in the middle of the night in the water- - I had made peace with the inevitable outcome I believe."

"I couldn't believe someone with your money and power and the fact that the tabloids loved you would walk around so careless about her own security, her own safety. I wanted to scare you into action. I wanted you to be proactive. You're a smart woman so you got some mace and carry it with you. And I don't know if I truly buy the gun story, but if you have one and know how to use it, then good. Next I'll teach you some self-defense moves. Ric and Bridget will have to deal with the loss of you one day, but no reason for it to be sooner than it has to be. Losing a mother, the pain- - no one should have to experience it for as long as possible."

She wished his mom and dad were alive so she could thank them for the amazing job they had done with her son. "They would be so proud of you and the job you're doing for Anni and Mikey."

"I know, but I would give anything to have them back again." Feeling the tears threatening to spill, Matt quickly got up and scooped up the kids, much to their utter delight. He always felt closer to his parents when he had these two munchkins in his arms.

The emotions she had seen in his eyes. The pain. Her heart went out to him and she made herself a note to call her mom as soon as the kids were asleep. And maybe, just maybe, she should call Stephen. She would have to think on that one.

"Granma, save me," Annika yelled, trying to escape her father's grasp.

"Yeah, save us," Michael concurred.

"Grandma to the rescue," Brooke shouted and joined in the fray.


	16. Chapter 16

"This looks great, Eric. You've taken what was on the runway and turned them into great pieces for the average woman to wear," Brooke praised her ex-husband, as the models walked out of her office.

Getting back behind her desk, she sat down and looked at her computer. "We will be right on schedule with getting our lines into the store. I love that."

"It is a good feeling," Eric said, turning his chair forward to face her. "It's good to see you smile. You hadn't been for a while."

"Well, running a successful business is a good reason to smile, particularly when you're meeting all of your goals."

"True, but having a good personal life also helps brighten the smile." He hoped this would help break down the wall Brooke had erected that kept him and the rest of the family out. He knew she had been hurt with her marriage ending with Thorne, though that was partly her fault. But with Stephen's mistaken diagnosis, he thought she would be happier.

She had seen this coming a mile away. Eric was prying. He wanted to know why her personal business wasn't being discussed all along the corridors on every floor of Forrester. "My personal life is just that Eric, personal."

Whoa. Brooke had never taken this attitude before with him. "Have I done something to upset you?" He was truly puzzled. What was going on? Had something happened between she and Ridge? Had she discovered Macy was pregnant?

Sighing, Brooke stared at her children's father. She loved him, but he could be clueless. Maybe it wasn't cluelessness, maybe it was his expectation for her to get over things and let bygones be bygones. She knew she was guilty at fostering that image, but she was done pretending.

"Are you serious?" Matt asked from the doorway.

Eric turned around. "Who are you?" he asked, as the younger man closed Brooke's office door.

"I can handle this," she informed her eldest, seeing the glint in his eye that she now recognized as trouble.

"I know you can, but you shouldn't have to," her son replied, staring into her eyes. "He should know that has to be one of the stupidest questions ever asked."

"Excuse me, young man, whomever you are. This is a personal conversation between myself and Brooke- -"

"Like it was personal when you cheated on Stephanie with your son's vulnerable ex-fiancée, still mourning the loss of her baby? Or when Brooke disappeared, leaving her children behind, and instead of searching high and low for your children's mother, you hire an attorney and sue for custody of your children? I thought it was especially touching, you were going to let the woman, who hated Brooke with all the passion in the world, raise Brooke's children and somehow naively believed the kids wouldn't be screwed up beyond belief after hearing what a trampish slut their mother was. Or maybe it's personal like when you were in cahoots with your mama's boy son and his wife to destroy Brooke's relationship with Thorne at all costs? Another nice touch was the genius idea of breaking them up with the 'look, Thorne, what a whore Brooke is.' Did you think that one up yourself? I'm amazed LF here doesn't laugh in your face whenever you tell her how much you respect her or admire her. Cause based on your past actions you obviously don't, or maybe once during your years of knowing her, you would have told that loudmouth, opinionated wife of yours to shut the hell up!"

"I don't know who you think you are, but you have no right- -" Eric began.

"No right to stick up for the woman I care about? See where I come from, you stick up for the people you love and the people who can't stick up for themselves. I'm sorry your mama and daddy didn't teach you that. Or that you didn't teach your children that." Matt shrugged his shoulders. "I'm sorry."

Had Matt just apologized, Brooke thought shocked? No, this wasn't Matt's style.

After having his butt chewed out, Eric was stunned by the apology. He couldn't believe Brooke would tell such personal, private family information to a stranger. What was she thinking? And who was he to Brooke? Was he a relative of some sort? He didn't think Beth's brother and sister had children this young. "I accept your apology."

"Oh, I wasn't apologizing for anything I said. I was talking to myself. I forgot you can't stick up for LF or teach your children to because the old ball and chain keeps your balls under lock and key, which I'm sure makes it difficult to do anything other than design and say 'yes, dear.'"

Taking shallow breaths, Brooke worked overtime to not burst out laughing. She almost felt sorry for Eric. Almost.

Eric's face turned bright red as he stood up pushing his chair away. "You can't speak to me like this- -"

"Why not? It was okay for the mother of your children to be spoken to this way, but it's not okay for you? What a double standard. Do Ricky and Bridge know this double standard exists? Of course, they do. How could they grow up in this family and not notice it?"

"Brooke, who is he? And how does he know so much about our family?" the older man asked, deciding to ignore Matt altogether.

"So now she's family. Another convenience. She's family when you need her or want her to do something. She's not family when you're trying to bed her. And she's not family when you're trying to wrestle this company away from her. Is it confusing to keep all of that straight?" Matt grinned. Boy was he having fun.

"I don't have to put up with this," Eric announced.

"You're so right. You don't. The door is directly behind you and don't step through the threshold unless it's business related."

"Brooke, you're not going to stop him- -"

"Stop who from what?" Stephanie demanded, walking in the office.

"You know doors were built and closed for a reason. It was to keep the undesirables out," Matt informed Stephanie.

"You again. What are you doing here? Coming for a quickie, I see," Stephanie commented.

A quickie. Brooke was sleeping with this vulgar, young man in front of him? Eric was disgusted. Had she really sunk that low? Though a part of him was glad it wasn't Ridge or Thorne she was sleeping with. But this kid was barely older than their son. What was Brooke thinking? And to tell her lover about private family matters? Couldn't she find other pillow talk?

"We meet again," Matt replied.

"You two have met?" Eric questioned, looking at Stephanie.

"Yes. He answered the door barely dress and was most rude, but I'm sure he was just anxious to hop back into bed with Brooke. If I were you, young man, I would wear two condoms just to be safe," Stephanie said, maliciously.

"Do you wear two when you're screwing the love of your life?"

Stephanie and Eric's mouths both fell open.

"Or are you implying your husband and two sons have diseases, which in that case, LF, you better get tested. And we better tell the high and mighty doctor and the drunk to get tested also. Based on you guys, you would think you lived in some small town in South Dakota, instead of LA. Oh, and Eric, your wife's last comment was a time to jump in and defend the mother of your children. But don't worry, it takes practice to learn how to be a man. If we see each other more, I'll keep helping you," Matt nodded.

"Don't you dare talk to Eric like that! We will have you arrested- -" Stephanie yelled.

"How? My mama taught me how to count." Pointing to LF, he said, "51." Pointing to Stephanie and Eric, he laughed, "49. 51 beats 49, every day of the week unless I'm missing something. Unless there is some kind of new math I don't know about?"

"You really have scraped the bottom of the barrel, with this one," the older woman informed a straight faced Brooke.

"No, she picked from the top of the barrel but you wouldn't recognize a real man because you're surrounded by Eric, Thorne, and Ridge. If Ric dumped that viper he's with, he, too, could grow up and become a man. A man stands up to you, Stephanie, and he also knows when to ignore you because he's wasting his time. LF, grab your purse. I think you deserve a late lunch."

In awe of her son, Brooke reached into her bottom drawer and took out her purse. She blushed when he leaned over and kissed her cheek before taking her hand and walking her to the door.

"Why don't the two of you be useful and pass this on to the rest of the Forresters- -if it's not business or business related, then don't step foot in this office, effective immediately. Thanks. I would say it's nice meeting you, Eric, and nice seeing you, Stephanie, but my mama taught me not to lie, so instead I'll say have a good day. And you should really pass along my message because I would be in a really pissy mood if I had to become LF's bodyguard and station myself outside her door," Matt announced. Leaving behind a stuttering Stephanie and a hyperventilating, red-faced Eric, he ushered his birth mother out of her office and towards the elevator.

As they stepped on the elevator and the doors closed, Brooke could no longer contain the laughter. Matt joined her.

"I could have handled Eric," Brooke reminded the blonde next to her.

"Yes. I know you could've. But didn't it feel nice not to have to," he retorted.

She smiled and soon her smile turned into laughter. It felt great not to.


	17. Chapter 17

"Annika, you can't get every thing you see. Why don't you get the Princess story book and a costume? Remember, I said you could get two things," Brooke gently reminded her granddaughter. That felt weird to say, to think. But that was what their relationship was, that's how she felt towards both Annika and Michael. She felt the same way about them as she did Little Eric. She knew they were once Matt's siblings, but he had been their parent longer than his parents had and she could see bits of his personality and traits in both of them. She even saw a bit of herself that Matt had inherited that had been passed down to the kids. It was amazing to see a piece of herself in the next generation of Logans.

"Yeah, Anni. You can only get two things," Michael repeated.

"Sir, if you heard me so well, why do you have three Buzz Lightyear items in your hands?" she asked.

Michael batted his eyelashes at her and shrugged his shoulder.

"Put something back," she informed her grandson.

He slowly turned and walked back over to the _Toy Story_ section of the Disney store.

How had she forgotten that you entered a time warp whenever you entered any store that sold toys when you were with kids? They had been in this store for over two hours and she was now starving. "Okay guys, we've got to go, Grandma's hungry."

"Me, too," they echoed.

Yeah, she could tell they were hungry by their length of time in the store, she thought sarcastically.

Twenty-five minutes later, they were happily walking out of the store with their purchases. She even bought something for Little Eric, too. No sense in her other grandchild missing out on the gifts.

"Where do you want to eat?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

"Mc Donald's," the tots yelled.

"Mc D's, it is," Brooke agreed, steering them to their favorite eatery. "What do you want?"

"A princess."

"A truck."

They both yelled simultaneously.

"That's not food. What do you want to eat?"

"Nuggets," Mikey answered.

Annika nodded in agreement.

With the orders in her hands, Brooke followed the duo to a table. Handing out the food and Happy Meal toys, she picked up her Big Mac to begin eating.

"Gma, you didn't say grace," Mikey reprimanded.

"Oops." She put down her sandwich, folded her hands, and bowed her head.

Anni said grace and they dug in.

They happily chatted as they ate.

"Gma, who's that?" Anni asked.

"Who's who?" Brooke asked, turning just in time to see Ridge pull out a chair next to her.

"Hello, Logan. Hello, little ones," he greeted.

Mikey and Anni stared at him blankly.

"Hi, Ridge," she greeted.

"Who do we have here?"

"Her name's not Logan," Mikey said with a stone cold voice and look. "Daddy calls her LF."

"Well, like your daddy uses LF, I call her Logan. It's my nickname for her."

Mikey shook his head. "It's a last name not a nickname. I'm butterbeans or Tiger and she's," pointing to Anni, "Puddin' or Tattoo- -"

"De plane! De plane!" Anni chimed in.

Mikey nodded. "Those are nicknames."

"Yes- -"

Brooke grinned as she listened to Ridge trying to reason with a three and almost five-year-old, who had taken an instant dislike to him. Like father, like son and daughter. It was slightly odd to see Ridge talking to the two people who were essentially his grandchildren or rather birth grandchildren, or however you explained it. But he was talking to his grandkids and he didn't even know it. Though she was sure the olive and nutmeg color skin did help to throw him off the track. He was conversing with his oldest son's children.

Even though Matt, Mikey, and Anni had been living with her for a while, it still boggled her mind and amazed her that her eldest had found her and that these beautiful children were her grandchildren. She had a whole family living in Minnesota that she knew nothing about and never would have if Matt hadn't searched for her. She was extremely grateful that he had. When she was staying with him, she made it a point to go to the cemetery and put roses on his parents' grave to thank them for raising a wonderful man.

Before Matt reentered her life, she had made peace with that. She had truly made peace with everything in the hospital all those years ago. Looking at his blonde hair and then blue eyes, her heart and soul wept for what she had to do but she had known it was for the best. The best for him, the best for her, and the best for Ridge. But now that Matt was in her life, a part of her had healed. A hole was filled. She would always ache for Matt's twin she had lost and for the baby she had lost when her marriage with Ridge ended. Tuning back into the conversation, she saw her grandchildren frowning at Ridge.

"Mike- -"

"Michael."

"Michael, Annika, and I were wondering where you went," her ex-husband commented.

Ignoring Ridge, Anni turned towards her. "May we go play?" the pre-schooler asked, pointing towards the large play area.

Nodding her approval, the kids raced off.

"Cute kids."

Fishing. Ridge was subtly trying to find out their connection to her. "Yes, they are," she smiled. Take that.

"You know their dad well enough to earn a nickname?"

She shrugged. "He gives everyone he knows a nickname."

"You met him through little Eric?"

"Hmm. What are you doing here? Are Taylor and the kids with you?" Foiled again. She laughed inwardly as she recognized the frustration in his eyes. That's what Mr. Nosy gets.

"Taylor and I are divorcing."

A part of her rejoiced the instant he finished his statement. But another part of her was saddened. This was why he was sniffing around again. Taylor was gone so it was back to reliable, backup Brooke. Some things never changed.

"I'm sorry to hear that," she responded in a neutral voice. She was dying to make a snide comment, but she refrained. If she ever hoped to reestablish their friendship, then she had to act like a friend. Starting now. "Are you sure you can't work it out? You two looked so happy at the impromptu anniversary gathering your mother threw for you." One little taunt wouldn't hurt.

He hadn't imagined how she would react to the news, but this was still disappointing. Counting to ten, he recalled his sessions with Dr. Kevin Collins. Brooke had no reason to believe anything coming from his mouth when it came to their relationship because at every turn he had lied to her or worse, left her feeling second best. But no longer was that true, he was changing, not for Taylor, his children, his mother, or even for Brooke. He was changing for himself. He didn't like the man he had become or the relationships in his life.

All his relationships could be put in four categories: sick, twisted, and controlling like with his mother and Taylor; indifferent and nonexistent like with the majority of his family and friends; Brooke; and his dad. His relationship with Brooke was filled with the highest of highs, like none he had ever known. And also the lowest of lows, with pain like he had never known. It was also rife with lies, mistrust, and a whole lot of other things that hurt his head to even think about. His relationship with his dad was maybe the closest to a normal relationship he had in his life. How sad for a man who was looking at fifty in the face. But slowly and surely, he was going to change everything. "I'm sorry."

"Ridge, you don't have to apologize again," she said with her eyes on the kids.

"Yes, I do. I couldn't forgive Taylor for her part with what happened with Stephen or in Italy. I'm having a hard time forgiving myself- -"

She didn't want to get into this today. At the mall of all places. But she might as well nip it in the bud while she could. "Ridge, I forgive you. And you should forgive yourself and Taylor- -"

"I'm trying. But I want us to go back to how we used to be."

Turning slightly, she looked him in the eye. "I don't know if that's even possible."

He appreciated her honesty even if he was hurt by the sting. "Well I hope one day we can at least be friends."

"I would like that, too."

At least she hadn't shot him down completely. A friendship. In his heart he wanted so much more, but his brain knew that friendship was more than he deserved. "So Michael and Annika's father is a close friend of yours?" Friends were protective, weren't they?

Giving Ridge her full attention, Brooke threw back her head and laughed.

What was so funny, he wondered?

She tried to stop laughing but she couldn't. She just couldn't. If he only knew.


	18. Chapter 18

"Do you think Taylor is pregnant again? Do you? Do you think that's why they invited us over?" Stephanie asked, as they sat in their son and daughter-in-law's living room.

Eric refrained from rolling his eyes. Had she not noticed the coolness between Ridge and Taylor? He had noticed something was amiss when they returned from Portafino, but he had thought things had gotten better. But after Brooke's return from Paris, relations between Ridge and Taylor had been frigid, and that was being generous. Was Stephanie really so blinded that she couldn't see the major cracks in their son's marriage? How silly of him, of course not. This was Stephanie and when it came to Ridge, she believed he could walk on water.

"Eric? What do you think?" she questioned again.

Not wanting to get into an argument with his wife, he took the easy way out. "We'll soon see."

"You'll soon see what?" Ridge inquired, walking into the living room from the kitchen.

"What you and Taylor have to tell us," Stephanie replied.

Taking one look at his father's face, Ridge knew instantly that his mother thought she was here to hear good news. Boy was she going to be disappointed.

"Stephanie, Eric, hello," Taylor greeted her in-laws as she entered the room.

Both stood, greeted, and kissed their favorite daughter-in-law.

"What did you and Ridge want to tell us," Stephanie asked impatiently. She couldn't wait to hear about her newest grandchild. She had noted some problems in Taylor and Ridge's relationship once Brooke returned, which was to be expected. Brooke wasn't Brooke if she wasn't trying to break up Ridge's wonderful marriage.

Ridge and Taylor looked at each other and Ridge nodded.

Facing his parents, Ridge bluntly stated, "We're divorced."

"You're what?! What are you talking about? We were just celebrating your anniversary. Is this a joke? It's a joke. Ridge, this isn't funny," Stephanie reprimanded.

"Mother, it's not a joke. We're waiting for the final divorce decree."

Stephanie turned to Taylor. "Taylor, what is this about? Is this about Brooke? Ridge, can't you get that home wrecker to leave you alone?! This is the final straw; I will have to deal with her myself."

"Stephanie, no. It's not Brooke. It's me, it's Ridge. Our relationship has been in trouble for a while and both Ridge and I buried our heads in the sands," Taylor gently informed her mother-in-law.

"I'm sorry to hear this. I'm also very sorry that you felt you couldn't talk to us until the deed was done," Eric commented. His heart was hurt that his son and daughter-in-law didn't feel they could turn to either him or Stephanie while they ended their marriage. What did it say about them as parents?

"Are you sleeping with Brooke?" the older woman inquired with anger in her eyes.

"No," he answered his mother with anger blazing in his own eyes.

"I don't believe you. Why else would you be ending the marriage to the best thing that's ever happened to you? The mother of your children."

"Stephanie, he's not sleeping with her. We decided to divorce on our own. No other parties were involved," Taylor interjected. When Ridge moved into the guest house until he and the kids could find the perfect house, she slowly started to get to know Ridge, not as a patient's husband, not as a grieving widow, not as a man in love with his father's wife, but as Ridge Forrester, a man finally coming into his own. Despite herself, she liked him. She honestly liked him. A part of her would always love him, but she was gradually falling out of love with him. And she could feel her heart healing.

"Mother, do you want to know why my marriage is ending?"

"Ridge, no, that's between you and Taylor- -" Eric said. He could see his son's temper flaring.

"No, it is our business, Eric," Stephanie corrected him. "If Brooke destroyed this marriage, I want to know about it. I've had enough of her interference. I'm going to- -"

"You're going to what, Mother? Have her pushed off the Eiffel Tower? Have some man stalk around as she tries to spend every last moment her father has on earth with him and her family? Maybe you want to pay her father some money so he can fake his own death this time, instead of just faking a terminal illness- -"

"Ridge, what are you talking about?" Eric demanded as he watched Stephanie and Taylor's faces turn red. "Stephen faked his illness because you paid him?"

"Oh, don't get holier than thou, Dad. You, Taylor, and I did a great job breaking up Thorne and Brooke with my little 'I want you back Brooke' routine- -"

"You were the reason Thorne married Macy," Stephanie said in awe. Looking at her husband with new eyes, she reached her hand to his. "Thank you- -"

Ridge flew out of his chair. "Only you, Mother, would think that was touching. We destroyed a relationship. We caused Thorne, Brooke, and Macy so much hurt and pain- -"

"Thorne recovered, didn't he? And if their relationship had been strong, she would have never fallen for your lines and moves. And he never would have run off with Macy and married her at the drop of a hat. He married Macy because she's his soul mate. Thank God, he finally understands that and now they are having a child together. And thank God, Macy forgave him for being another weak Forrester male falling under Brooke's spell. I'm making sure Thomas stays far away from her."

"Stephanie," Taylor scolded. Brooke wasn't a friend of hers, but Stephanie's statement was crossing the line.

Shaking his head, Ridge laughed.

"What is so funny?" Stephanie commanded.

"This," he replied. "This is why I'm in therapy three times a week. This family is insane. I'm insane. I'm weak. I love Brooke Logan. I would give anything for her to be Mrs. Ridge Forrester again. Sorry Doc."

Taylor shook her head. It was getting easier to hear and deal with.

"Ridge, how can you say this?" his father asked bewildered.

"Because it's true. I've willing let Mother control my life. And if it weren't for Brooke I probably never would have noticed. I would have happily married Caroline and then Doc when Caroline died. And I would have lived a life of contentment. But Brooke did come around and I realized I wanted more than contentment, so does Doc. We want to know never ending passion. We want our hearts to race when the person we love and are married to walks through the door. We want to be with someone that makes us so angry that we want to throttle them, yet we can't imagine going to bed mad at them because we need them next to us to sleep peacefully. I have that with Brooke, she colors my world. Doc hasn't found that person yet. But she will and she will be happier than she's ever been. I allowed myself to be weak and I might have lost Brooke forever. And if so, then the blame lies solely at my feet because all she ever gave me was her love and her heart and I stomped all over them time and time again. But I am going to try to gain her friendship again and then maybe, one day she'll want more. Maybe, but if not then I'll make do with friendship."

"Has this quack you've been seeing hypnotized you? Yes, Brooke has been hurt but it was her own fault. You married Caroline and Taylor because they were the best women for you. They were the ones who brought out the best in you. They made you want to be a better man. And you were. You always took the high road and unfortunately Brooke allowed herself to be hurt because of her silly dreams. I never wanted Brooke to be hurt in Paris. I just wanted her away from our family. I wanted a Brooke-free life and I'm not going to apologize for that," Stephanie informed her son.

"Well then your silly dream is going to cause you to hurt because Brooke isn't going anywhere. She is just as much a Forrester as anyone else in this room. I'm sorry that I'm not the strong man you raised me to be. But I'm working on that. Dad, I'm sorry that I didn't keep my promise to you about being a dad to Ric. But I'm working on that too- -"

"Ridge, Eric is Ric's father- -" his mother reminded him.

"Yes, but I'm his dad. And I've been a piss poor one to both him and Bridget."

"They are not your kids. Stop looking for ties to keep yourself ankled to Brooke."

"Mother, I'm not looking for ties. I'm finally picking up the ones that were already there." Walking to the front door, Ridge paused. "Thanks for stopping by, but I've got to go pick up the kids and look at some houses. Mother, Dad, I love you." Ridge closed the door and left.

"Taylor, what was the meaning of all this nonsense?" Stephanie demanded.

"It's not nonsense, Stephanie. It's your son finally realizing and admitting what he wants out of life," Taylor answered.

"And this is okay with you?"

"Of course not, Stephanie. I love your son, but I don't think I'm in love with him anymore. The woman I was, the woman I respected, has slowly turned into this judgmental, insecure woman who would do anything to get rid of her 'rival.' And I've done just about anything. I let Brooke think her dad was dying when I know first hand what it's like to lose a parent. I broke Thorne's and Brooke's hearts, while endangering my own marriage for what? Why? I don't like who I've become. I don't like who I am with Ridge. And I want the type of love Ridge has for Brooke. I do. I really do," Taylor concluded.

Eric was blown away by what he had seen and heard today.

His children were finally coming into their own. He was saddened it had taken so long, but at least it had happened. Hearing Ridge's anger reminded him that he wasn't so innocent in regards to Brooke's heartaches, he too had done her wrong, hurt her deeply. It was amazing she had anything to do with any of them. Maybe it was finally time for him to sit down and have a heart-to-heart with his ex-wife.

Stephanie was steaming. Ridge and Taylor were both talking nonsense. She was not going to allow Brooke to ruin another member of her family. She had to stop her.


	19. Chapter 19

Watching his daughter stick like glue to her new Aunt Katie, Matt began to wonder if it was time to add to his family again. It was a thought that had drifted through his mind for the past six months or so. Growing up, he enjoyed having his cousins on the farm with him but he wished he had had a sister or brother living in the house with him and his parents. When he asked his parents why they hadn't adopted again, they had told him he was such an incredible miracle and a blessing they didn't want to deny another childless couple from experiencing the same joy by adopting a second child. But when international adoption became an avenue they could explore, they quickly jumped on it. He wished they had had more time to enjoy their two youngest children.

He had always wanted a large family. A dozen or so or at least enough for a baseball team. And he wasn't getting any younger, neither were Mikey and Anni, maybe he should talk to them about their thoughts on having a sibling.

"You look deep in thought over here," Ric stated, walking over to his newly discovered older brother and handing him a drink.

"Thanks."

"No prob. Whatcha thinkin' about?"

"Having another kid," Matt answered.

Ric's eyes widened. "Wow. A third? I'm impressed."

"Don't be. I can only even think about doing it because Mikey and Anni are older and such great kids."

"You didn't do the obligatory, when are you and Amber going to have another one?"

Matt looked at Ric and smiled.

The younger man had learned over the past weeks Matt didn't mince words and he said what he meant. Ric found Matt's honesty refreshing. There was no else in his immediate family like Matt. His dad's truth was skewered by his need to protect Stephanie and her children. Budge always wanted everyone to be happy which meant sometimes she buried her head in the sand until everyone was happy or at least pretending to be. And his mother, even now that he was an adult, her first instinct was to protect him, shield him and Budge from the more unpleasant things in life or the Forresters. He had used his parents' weaknesses against them for them to sign off on his marriage to Amber. More and more, he was regretting that decision. He now realized when he married Amber, he was a child pretending to be a man. But why was that surprising; outside of his Uncle Storm, all the men around him were doing the same thing. "I want to know, what you think."

"You don't love her, I don't think you ever did. The whole time we've been here, you haven't moved more than five feet away from her. You've been making sure Deacon is no where near her, which is quite a feat considering Storm's backyard isn't that large. So obviously you don't trust her. And anytime Eric has needed anything you do it or help him. So if you don't love her, you don't trust her, and you're raising your kid on your own, why are the hell are you still with her?"

Everything Matt said was true. He hadn't admitted it to anyone but whenever she was in Deacon's presence, she changed. She had a glow about her. He could feel the chemistry, the heat, between the two. He thought his heart would be torn to shreds because his wife wanted her own brother-in-law and vice versa, but other than a little pang for his sister's cluelessness to it all he was okay. He realized now that his boyhood crush which turned into infatuation was just that an infatuation. He hadn't been in love with Amber, he loved her, thought she was hot, but the only person he had been madly in love with was the baby in her stomach. And now he was madly in love with the son he had been raising as his own from birth. It was that love that kept him married to her. He feared Amber would win custody of their son, then run off with Deacon, never to be seen again. He'd be damned if he would let that happen. Eric was his son and he would fight to the death to protect and keep him.

Seeing the emotions play across Ric's face, Matt knew why the younger man didn't end this marriage - - Little Eric.

"No judge would give her custody of that little boy."

"I won't bribe a judge- -"

Matt lowered his shades and stared at Ric.

Ric averted his eyes and sighed. "Yes, I would do anything for Little Eric, but I want to do it as fairly as possible."

"Then you need for your soon-to-be-ex and her soon-to-be-lover to give you custody and no hassles willingly."

"How?"

"How long do you think it's really going to take before they give into that?" Matt asked, pointing to Deacon and Amber wrestling in the water.

"I have someone else to consider."

Turning his head in the other direction, Matt saw Bridget alternating between pouting and steaming as she watched her husband and sister-in-law's pool antics. "You'll be saving her."

"She won't see it like that. Trust me."

Matt made no comment, but he suspected something had gone down between Bridget and Ric. He felt the distance between the two siblings who were usually thicker than thieves. "Now she won't, but later she'll thank you."

Ric shook his head. "I can't hurt her again."

"If you don't do something, then you and your sister will be commiserating with each other as those two play house and raise your son with your mother's hard earned money or you'll be carrying your cell phone with you 24/7 waiting for word from your private detective to see if he or she has located the three of them. Deacon and Amber don't need all of this to survive. They grew up on the streets. Is that want you want for your little boy?" Deciding to let Ric ponder his words, Matt walked away.

"Must you sit next to me?" Bridget asked, as Matt pushed a patio chair closer to hers.

"I like to observe pouting teenage girls so I can know what to possibly expect from Anni when she's older. Though due to the monetary differences between our two families, she won't have the rich girl pout down completely - -"

"That's right and don't think you being all chummy, chummy with Uncle Storm means you're getting anything from him, even if he never marries or has kids."

"Am I so desperate that I would try to be Storm's new best friend on the off chance that if he remains a bachelor, he'll leave everything to me?" Matt asked with laughter in his voice.

"Yes."

Matt's laughter infuriated Bridget.

"Pouting isn't going to win you any points in this war. All it does is make you seem more like the kid you are. If you want to get him away from her, you could ask him to go to the nearest newsstand and you get you the newest editions of Teen Cosmo and Teen Beat."

"I am not a child," she hissed. "I am a grown, married woman."

"Could have surprised me. From where I sit, you look like a spoiled little girl whose favorite toy is being taken from her- -"

"It goes to show what you know. How do you make a living being a private dick? That is what you guys are called right? Dicks."

"Ooh, the little girl said the 'd' word. Do you feel all grown up now?" Matt teased.

Bridget fumed and lifted her drink.

"Little girl, if that drink ends up on me, you will be across my lap being spanked then thrown in the pool to cool down."

Lowering her cup, she turned her back to him.

"That was a very wise decision. There's hope for you yet."

"What I have learned in my years as a private dick is if you give someone enough rope and time, inevitably they will hang themselves."

Acting as if she didn't hear Matt, Bridget watched her husband and Amber play with Little Eric. To a stranger, they appeared to be one happy family, but they weren't. Deacon was her husband. Hers, not Amber's. Deacon had signed over his parental rights to Amber and Ric so Little Eric could become legally theirs. She knew the decision hadn't been easy for him but he had put his son's needs before his own. She had admired him for that. It had made her wonder how Ridge had decided to put Thomas' needs over hers and Ric's. She knew Ric and her mom thought Ridge took the easy way out by going back with Taylor. But she knew that wasn't so. Ridge loved her and Ric. She felt in her heart the choice he had to make was on par with Meryl Streep's in _Sophie's Choice_ and King Solomon's. Although Ridge was never far from her conscious thoughts, she had to concentrate on the matters at hand. Matt's words were going around and around in her head.

Ever since Ric let slip what Deacon had done and Ridge confirmed it, she had been distant from her brother and the rest of her family. She knew they had noticed, but what could she do? She was so embarrassed, so ashamed. Finally, she had taken off her rose-colored glasses and saw Deacon through a different light. She couldn't understand why he had done what he did. He wasn't in it for the money. He didn't allow her to use the Forrester money for anything other than herself. All household bills were paid from his Forrester salary and on weekends, he still worked at his old bar for extra money to cover the cost of her schooling. When she voiced a complaint, he told her it was his responsibility to provide for her, not her mother's or her father's. He didn't use the Forrester connections to get things for himself. So why on earth did he marry her? The only thing she could think of was to be closer to Amber and Little Eric.

She was now asking herself what did she want? That was the million dollar question. Did she want to stay married to Deacon to defy her family and prove everyone wrong? Was she really so childish that she would stay married to a man so she could have the last laugh? She wouldn't like to think so. On campus, she would see her classmates enjoying their pseudo freedom. They were away from the watchful eyes of their parents, they were living on their own, taking the classes they enjoyed, going to parties galore, but yet knew that if they needed anything their parents were a quick call away and would come rescue them. Where was her freedom? Was her freedom worrying about her husband sleeping with her sister-in-law? Was her freedom trying to find the skankiest outfits at Frederick's of Hollywood to show Deacon she was all woman and all his? If so, this wasn't the type of freedom she wanted. And definitely not the type of freedom she had imagined she would have when she first married him.

Bridget Forrester Sharpe could now admit she married Deacon partly to get away from her mother. Her mom was a great woman but sometimes her overprotectiveness could be cloying. She knew her mom was trying to compensate for the tabloids, the paparazzi, and the Forresters. But she wished her mom had loosened up a bit, let her have more freedom. She was working hard to have a que sera, sera attitude about her childhood. She knew her mother did the best she could and what she thought was right at the time. And now it was time for her to do what was right. "What kind of rope?"

So the strawberry blonde was smarter than she acted and looked. He knew LF lurked somewhere under the surface in her daughter. "A conference for school, Ric being called away on an emergency business trip. Two lonely people left to their own devices," Matt shrugged. "You never know what could happen."

Matt was right, you never know. Hmm… "Did my mom have a DNA test run on you? How do we even know you're really mom's supposed biological son?"

Standing, Matt tousled Bridget's hair, much to her disgust.

"Principesa, I love your tenaciousness. Apply it to something useful."

"I'm watching you."

"I've been against people better than you and won with my eyes closed."

"Don't let my easy going demeanor and kind nature fool you," she retorted.

"Oh, is that what you've been showing me?"

"I won't let you hurt my family. I can be voracious when it comes to my family."

Matt threw his head back and laughed. Bridget could be a spitfire when she wanted to.

Brooke watched the interactions of her eldest and youngest.

"See, Brookie, they're getting along," Katie murmured.

"Take a closer look at Bridge's face, if she gets any redder she's going to explode."

Taking a closer look, Katie noticed the redness of her niece's face. "He could be just teasing her."

"Antagonizing her is more like it. And she's falling for it. I don't know why she can't be accepting of him."

"Because she's jealous. Sharing you with Ric is one thing, but now she's supposed to share you with this stranger you claim is your son. Budge is a sweetie, but she never left a doubt in anyone's mind that you were hers and hers alone."

"That's natural. It's been the three of us for so long. Men came and went- -"

"Ridge came and went. The other men were thrown out."

"Hey, Katie, that's not true. Thorne wasn't thrown- -"

"No, he ran because he was smart enough to know he was about to be thrown overboard."

"Completely not true. I would have stayed married to him, happily, until I took my dying breath."

Katie nodded. "Or until Ridge came calling again."

A sarcastic, scathing retort was on the edge of her tongue, but she paused and breathed. When Ridge called she did jump. Or rather she had. But no longer would she ask how high and how far when Ridge came a callin' and now that he was single again, she knew he would continue to sniff around her and would pounce on any one moment of weakness. She would no longer show any signs of weakness around him; she couldn't afford it. She was carefully arming herself for when Matt revealed his identity to the Forresters because she knew Ridge would go into attack mode the moment Matt finished his sentence. She knew the time was coming soon, but she was ready or at least as ready as she could ever be.


	20. Chapter 20

"What are you doing?" Brooke asked Matt, walking into the kitchen.

He looked at her with a puzzled face. "Making myself a BLT. You want one?"

Brooke frowned. "Matthew."

"Wow! The way you say that, it's like your channeling my mom," he teased.

"Matt, you're going to have to make some decisions soon," she said, taking a seat at the counter.

Sitting opposite of her, Matt took a bite of his sandwich. "I've made 'em," he answered with his mouth full of food.

"Matt," she reprimanded. He could be exhausting when he wanted to be.

Quickly chewing his food, he turned to his birth mother and became serious. "I want to get to know you. I'm not tied to the farm the way my cousins are. I can be a private dick anywhere. The kids aren't in school, yet, so we're a threesome of footloose, fancy free people. I want to know what makes you tick. I read it on paper, but seeing you and meeting you, it makes me question all the intelligence I gathered. Who is the real Brooke Logan? And why the hell didn't she run the hell away from the Forrester family after having to give her first born up for adoption? I want to know the spoiled princess- -"

Brooke opened her mouth.

"Don't you dare say she's not a spoiled princess. They are both spoiled and coddled. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, I'm stunned that you could raise them like that in the midst of the battlefield that was your personal life. How did you keep them away from everything?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "You do what you have to to protect your children."

Staring into her green eyes, he saw the fierce love she had for her children. He wondered why she didn't have the same love for herself. Did she have no self-esteem to let Ridge and Thorne Forrester treat her the way they did? Or was it something else? Maybe he didn't understand because he had never truly been in love. In college, he dabbled at love. But what he felt for his high school and college girlfriends wasn't anything near what his parents had for each other. A love like the one his parents shared until their dying breath was the type of love he was searching for. After college, he was too busy settling into the police academy and the Twin Cities to find a good woman. And after his parents died, he had become an instant father of two and was too tired, too heartbroken, to even think about any females who weren't Anni. Maybe he couldn't understand Ridge and Brooke's relationship because he had never been there himself, he didn't think so, but he would give them the benefit of the doubt. "Yes, you do what you have to."

"How did you make it through your parents' deaths?" She could instantly recall how she felt when Stephen had told her he only had months to live. It had felt as if the rug had been pulled from underneath her. And she was a grown woman, with grown children and a grandchild.

Munching on his sandwich, Matt vividly remembered hearing over the police scanner about his parents' accident. He could still see the police car pulling up to his boyhood home and the chief of police getting out of the car. "One day at a time. Of course, Mikey and Anni were a tremendous help. I couldn't sit around and say, 'Woe is me.' They were babies. Mom and Dad were dead, but they still wanted to eat, drink, play, and get their diapers changed. They sensed the tension and were quiet for the first few days, but they were babies. They didn't realize, couldn't comprehend that for the third time in their short lives they were going through a major upheaval. First, when their birth parents decided they couldn't parent them. Second, when parents adopted them from the orphanage and brought them to America. And now, they were faced with a single dad/former brother raising them." Matt paused and stared past Brooke not really seeing anything. "It was hard. It was the worst and hardest thing I've ever experienced. It was just the three of us for so long and suddenly they were gone and I was part of a new threesome. They were my rocks. We lived in a small community so it was nice to know that others thought the world of them. And I was so lucky to have our whole family so close by. We could all grieve and laugh together. Each day it gets a little easier. Sometimes when I look at the kids, I think of how much my parents would have loved to watch Mikey and Anni grow. But it wasn't meant to be." He shrugged his shoulders. "Being in a new setting helps and I'm so looking forward to not shoveling any snow this winter. My kids seem to have adjusted well. You and I haven't killed each other. Bridget hasn't poisoned any of my drinks or meals. So I think we might settle down roots here for the time being, if that's okay with you?"

There he was the considerate Matt. "I'd be more than delighted to have you, Mikey, and Anni, here. This place has been a bit lonely for me with the kids gone."

"And the divorce from Thorne. Why did Thorne live here, instead of buying you a house of your own?"

"Bridget was still at home. Ric and Amber stayed here a lot. It was just one less adjustment they all had to go through or deal with."

LF tiptoeing around grown and practically grown children, Matt thought, shaking his head. Who was the adult in their relationship? It didn't seem like it was LF. She was too busy catering to her precious babies.

"Are you okay with money?" She hadn't wanted to approach the subject since their relationship was still new, but it had been a concern of hers.

"Growing up on a farm, my dad knew accidents happened so he made sure he and mom were very protected. He had regular insurance and accidental death insurance on them. And got some on me, when I became a cop. So I guess you can say, the kids and I are millionaires. Of course, not in the same league as you, but millionaires, none the less."

Brooke was relieved to hear his parents had left him in a comfortable position, but she knew Matt would not be happy twiddling his thumbs with nothing to do. "What about work?"

"Connor has given me some cases, while I prepare to get my PI license in California, to keep me busy and occupied. So no worries, LF, I'm covered," he grinned. "And while I'm in such a generous mood, I think it's time to let the Forresters in on our little secret."

Her mouth fell open. What?! Was he serious? She could tell by the devilish gleam in his eyes that he was.

"Close your mouth before bugs fly in."

"Do you know what this means?"

"It's not the apocalypse. I'm just informing the paternal side of my birth family that I exist. That's it. I'll watch the sparks fly afterwards with glee." He laughed. "I think the whole family needs to be here for this Felicia, Kristen- -Why are you so quiet?"

"Do you not realize the full implication of what you're about to embark on?"

"I do. Are you worried that Stephanie and Ridge are going to yell at you? Because don't, that won't happen, I've got your back. No one will be saying one disrespectful thing to you."

Not knowing what to say, she said nothing. She hadn't expected him to be ready so soon to tell all. She didn't know why it was bothering her so much. Maybe because she thought of him as her own little secret. Her own little private joy, like those moments they spent together in the Minnesota hospital all those years ago. She knew she was being selfish, but just for a moment she didn't care. Maybe a part of her was afraid the Forresters would corrupt him or hurt him and she didn't want that for him. As irritating and aggravating as he could be at times, she had grown used to him and she didn't want him to change.

"So are you in, LF? Cause if you're not, I don't have to do this," he said, concerned.

Touched by his concern, she put her feelings aside and put his first. "Do you want it to be a dinner party or hors d'oeuvres?"

Recognizing the twinkle in LF's eyes, Matt winked and smiled. "I was thinking more along the lines of a barbeque. You know I'm not a suit guy."

She returned his smile and prayed for the best.


	21. Chapter 21

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers!

* * *

"Why am I here?" Stephanie moaned to her husband.

"Because Brooke asked us to come," Eric reminded her.

"She was doing such a great job at distancing herself from the family. Why is she trying to worm her way back into this family again?"

"Steph- -"

"Are you, Ridge, or Thorne conspiring or talking to her behind my back?" the older woman questioned angrily.

"No, Stephanie. We're not. Brooke only talks to us about business. Whether you like it or not, she is part of this family. She is the mother of my children- -"

"Reminding me of your infidelities isn't going to make me feel any better about being here."

Taking a deep breath, Eric counted to ten. Did she really wonder why he cheated? Not that it was right, but sometimes he just needed a break from her and her obsessions with Ridge and Brooke. Maybe it was time for him to start laying down the law or maybe it was time for him to strike out on his own. "Imagine you're here for the sake of the children you love, Bridget, Ric, Amber, and Little Eric. Maybe that will help you get through this day. I'm going to go spend some time with my grandchildren."

He could be so useless at times, she thought as she watched her husband walk away. It was sometimes hard to remember why she married him and what she ever saw in him. She wondered what Brooke was up to.

"Hello, Stephanie," Taylor greeted, walking up behind her soon to be former mother-in-law.

"Taylor, darling. What are you doing here?"

"Brooke invited me."

Stephanie hugged her daughter-in-law and humphed. "What is she plotting?"

"I don't know. Do you think she's ready to forgive us?"

"Taylor, really. Forgive us for what- -"

"What we did with Stephen- -"

"He went along with the plan because he too is sick of his daughter jumping from Forrester man to Forrester man. He tried to raise a good, upstanding moral daughter, like Katie and Donna, but with Brooke instead he got a family-hopping tramp. He wants his family away from this family as much as we do."

Taylor knew it was useless to argue with Stephanie when she was in this mood. She deeply regretted the pain she caused Brooke and not just because her marriage ended partly because of her participation in the scam. She knew first hand the pain of losing a parent. She saw the effect losing her mother had had on her brother, her family. Once her mother was buried, even before she had been laid to rest, her family had been damaged and was tearing apart. Years later, they still hadn't healed as a family.

The things insecurity and jealousy led you to do. But she couldn't put the blame all on Ridge and Brooke; she manipulated, lied, and also plotted to stay on the merry-go-round. At any point, she could have ended the ménage-a-trios. But she loved Ridge, and in her heart she knew he had loved her, too. Maybe not the same way he loved Brooke, but that was okay. She didn't love him the same way she loved her first husband.

"Taylor, Taylor, are you listening?" Stephanie asked.

"Sorry, Stephanie, you were saying," Taylor said apologetically.

"I asked you if you had seen Brooke's new lover."

"Brooke is seeing someone?" Ridge wasn't going to stand for that.

"Yes, shameless at her age. He's young enough to be her son. And to top it off, he is quite rude. Though I should be grateful at least he's keeping her away from Eric, Ridge, and Thorne."

Ridge hadn't made any headway with getting Brooke to forgive him or take him back, interesting, Taylor thought. She would have thought Brooke would have jumped at the chance to have a free and clear Ridge all to herself. Maybe they were both working hard on being Ridge-free. Well, at least Brooke didn't have any children to tie her to Ridge. Because regardless of what Ridge said, Ric and Bridget weren't his and she was pretty sure Ric and Bridget would be the first two to agree with her. For Brooke's sake and for those of her children, Taylor hoped Brooke would be able to make this new relationship work.

"There he is."

Taylor followed the older woman's finger to see a shirtless stud, his swimming trunks riding low on his hips. She had to stop herself from drooling. Wow! For all Brooke's faults, the blonde did have great taste in eye candy. Maybe that's what she needed to help herself get over Ridge, a hot younger man for some meaningless, hot, fun times. She should ask Brooke if her stud had a friend. She smiled at the thought.

"How dare he walk around here like that? Doesn't he know there are children present?"

Hearing Stephanie mention children, her eyes immediately searched for her three. She found them happily playing in the pool with Bridget, Ric, and little Eric. Her gaze moved on from them and settled on Brooke. Who were those two children Brooke was trying to entice into the pool? "Who are those kids with Brooke?"

"Hmm, I don't know. Friends of little Eric's, possibly?"

"Probably so," she replied, dismissing the unknown children from her mind and setting her sights back on the eye candy.

* * *

It was time. Everyone had eaten, swam, and played in the pool. They were relaxed. The kids were inside the house watching a movie. Now would be the perfect time.

"Ladies and gentlemen, can I get your attention, please?" Matt requested.

Stephanie quickly moved closer so she could hear exactly what this disrespectful pup had to say.

Ridge scooted towards the edge of his chair. Logan had been avoiding him all day so maybe now he could get some answers on who this young man was and who those kids were that stayed by Brooke's side all day.

Her son did have a flair for the dramatic, she thought as she put down her plate and took her place at his side.

Ric, in support of his older brother, went and stood at Matt's side. He assumed Budge must have figured this was coming and had easily avoided the situation by watching the kids inside the house.

Eric watched his son and ex-wife stand beside the young man who had been so rude to him. He prayed Brooke wasn't announcing her marriage to him. The company wouldn't survive Matthew and Stephanie.

"Thank you all for coming and for being so patient about why you are all here. To reintroduce myself, my name is Matthew Olsen. But many years ago, my name was Baby Boy Forrester. LF, you could have at least named me," Matt said to Brooke, mindless of the bomb shell he had just dropped.

"Excuse me, did you just say Baby Boy Forrester?" Felicia questioned, amazed. Brooke hid a pregnancy from the hawk eyes of her mother. She was thoroughly impressed.

"Brooke, this idea of a joke is tasteless and classless. Though why I would expect anything differently from you is- -" Stephanie began.

"Old woman, I suggest you shut your trap. You don't talk to my birth mother like that. Out of the goodness of LF's heart do you stand here; I wasn't going to invite you to hear the good news. Well, that's a lie. I did want to see your face turn red when you found out the woman you love to hate had another tie to your dopey son."

"Don't you dare talk to my wife like- -" Eric reprimanded.

"Explain to me how you choose which wives get defended by you? The ones who carry your balls around their neck as a prize get defended, but the ones who let you be a real man get the crap beat out of them?" Matt shook his head. "I know I'm just a simple, farm boy but that seems backwards even to me."

Kristen and Felicia's eyes connected and they quickly lowered their heads to keep the others from seeing the smiles on their faces.

"You can't be- - I would know- -" Ridge stuttered, shocked beyond belief.

"You would know what? How could you possibly know anything about Brooke's pregnancy when you ran out of the hospital faster than the speed of light as soon as you found out my twin died? You didn't want to know anything about Brooke back then. You were thrilled you could go back to your precious Caroline and had no ties to remind Caroline of your affair with Brooke."

Taylor didn't know what to think. Brooke had lost one twin, but had maintained the pregnancy of the other twin and didn't tell anyone? Why would she do that? Then she gave up the child for adoption without telling Ridge? What kind of mother would do that to the man she supposedly love?

"Was this your way to punish Ridge, Brooke, deny him his son?" Macy asked accusingly, as if reading Taylor's thoughts.

"Macy, only real Forresters can speak during this Q & A, so why don't you shut your mouth and sit down- -"

"My wife is a Forrester- -" Thorne said.

"Another Forrester male defending the wife, he really loves, but the wives they tolerate they leave to the sharks. This is so touching," Matt commented. Turning towards Stephanie, he asked, "You're a shrew. Your husband is a coward for never standing up to you to keep you from becoming a shrilling shrew. Your sons are spineless wimps. So the only people in this family worth meeting seem to be Kristin and Felicia."

"Thank you," Felicia said.

"Felicia," Kristin reprimanded with a slap on the hand.

"What, he's right. Why are we all going to pretend like he isn't?" the youngest Forrester child questioned.

"Felicia, now is not the time for this," Ridge said tersely.

"When is it the time, Ridge? Never. We like nothing better than shoving things under the rug like nothing ever happened. Ridge, how would you have ever known Brooke was still pregnant? You avoided her like the plague. I know you were hurt, I saw the wistfulness and the tears in your eyes when you saw a baby. I know you avoided Brooke because it hurt too much to see her and be reminded of all you'd lost. Was it right for Brooke to not tell you about Matt? No, but I understand why she wouldn't. I've been married to Alan James Quartermaine, Junior, for the past eighteen months, but I haven't said anything to any of you because of the way this family operates. He's already part of one crazy family, he doesn't need to be thrown into our madness too. Why do you think I don't live in this city? I love LA, but I can't take all of us being together. LA is too small for all the Forresters."

"You're married and you didn't say anything," Eric exclaimed.

Felicia pulled her necklace out from underneath her t-shirt and showed the wedding ring dangling from it.

"Felicia," Stephanie shouted.

"Mother," she retorted. "Now you have two things to ponder, but since I'm not Ridge you'll soon forget about my revelation. I'm outta here." Picking up her bag, Felicia paused at Matt. "Thank you for inviting me and telling me about your existence. Brooke, when and if you want to tell me the whole story, call me."

Brooke nodded as she watched her favorite Forrester woman leave.

"Brooke, I'm sorry you felt your son was better off being reared by strangers than to be around us. Matt, it was nice meeting you, maybe we can talk sometime but right now I have to go catch up with my sister," Kristin commented, chasing after her sister.

Brooke looked around at the remaining speechless and confused Forresters: Eric, Stephanie, Ridge, Macy, Thorne, and Taylor. The fun ones were left, oh joy.

"Why, Brooke? Why?" Ridge cried, finding his voice.

"I was too young to be a single mother- -"

"I would have helped you."

"Yes, Brooke, we would have supported you- -" Stephanie reaffirmed.

"You mean like the time I was lost with no memory of my life, my kids, and you and Eric sued for custody of my babies. Like that?" Brooke demanded.

"We did what was best for Ric and Bridget."

"You didn't ask us what we wanted, Stephanie," Ric inserted.

"You were children," Stephanie answered dismissively.

"I would have done anything for our son. The pain of losing you," Ridge declared, looking directly at Matt, "losing your twin is always with me. The pain. The hurt. I would have gladly given my life for yours and your twin."

Matt laughed.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Macy asked.

"I should let you guys on in on another secret. I'm a private investigator so I've thoroughly investigated all of you."

The gasps were audible.

"It's amazing what you learn working janitorial at a company, but that's another story. Ridge, your speech would have been touching if I didn't know any better, but I do. My twin died, I was adopted, yet for some reason God saw fit to give you a second shot at raising a family with LF. He gave you two, Ric and Bridget. Eric, I'm sure with his wife's prodding, would have happily signed away all rights to his son and daughter. You married Brooke, played daddy to her kids, but the minute your biological child was dangled in front of you, you ran out on them like a bitch in heat."

"That's not true."

"It isn't? Did you or did you not annul your marriage to Brooke?"

"Yes, but- -"

"Yes, you did. Ric, did Ridge and Taylor invite you and Budge over to their house every other weekend so you could get to know your new little brother?"

With glee, Ric shook his head.

"Did you get to spend every other Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter with them?"

Once again, Ric shook his head.

"Wow, that's strange because usually in divorces, Ridge, that's usually how good parents work the custody arrangements. But maybe annulments are different, you tell me."

Ridge was flabbergasted. What could he say to this young man? Matt's words were a direct hit. Bridget and Ric had been his second chance to raise a family with Logan and he had blown it once again. He had made no attempts to blend his new family with his old one. He had failed Ric and Bridget just as he had failed Brooke and now Matt could be added to that list.

"He did what was best for his family," Stephanie bellowed.

"Ric and Bridget had a father- -"

"You know what I love about you guys is how you can justify every little thing to fit your whim. Thorne hears Brooke admit that Ridge is her soul mate and suddenly she's an untrustworthy whore. Though she wasn't one when you fell in love with her, knowing the connection she had with Ridge. I guess it didn't fit your purposes to see her in the Stephanie light then, did it? And don't you dare open your mouth, Miss-I-tried-to-kill-Brooke. Wait, let me clarify that one so you won't be confused as to whom I'm speaking to. I'm talking to Macy, the one who tried to kill Brooke in a car crash. As opposed to Stephanie, who tried to choke her. Or as opposed to Stephanie and Taylor, who hired a hit man to push Brooke off the Eiffel Tower. Or as opposed to Ridge, Eric, and Thorne, who let their mommy emotionally and psychologically abuse the woman they all supposedly loved at one time for over the past two decades."

"You hired someone to push Brooke off the Eiffel Tower," Eric yelled at Stephanie.

"Of course not," his wife yelled back.

"You're right. You didn't. The thug was actually hired by Massimo, your new little puppet."

Eric staggered backwards. She hired someone to kill Brooke? She hated her that much? She tried to choke Brooke to death? Who was he married to? Who were these people surrounding him? His baby was married but didn't want her husband to know them. His eldest grandson kept hitting homeruns of truth out of the park as he spoke with disdain about their family. With disdain and no emotions. Matt didn't care enough about them to hate them. Based on the things Matt had found out about the Forresters, the young man had condemned them and he could see why. He had to get away from them. "I'm sorry," he said to no one in particular as he ran out of the backyard.

"Eric! Eric!" Stephanie called after him, but he kept running and never turned around. Useless man.

Taylor felt ill and ashamed having her misdeeds aired for public viewing. During Matt's stinging speech, she had an epiphany about herself, her kids. Was this the future she wanted for her kids? A future where they were too embarrassed to bring home their spouses home for her to meet? Too fed up with the family to even live in the same city or to come home on a regular basis to visit? A future where they hated Brooke so much they tried to hurt her if not physically, then emotionally and psychologically. She had contributed to all three. She couldn't allow her children to follow her path or Ridge's and most especially not Stephanie's. Her life needed a radical makeover, maybe Ridge divorcing her was the first step. Quietly, she snuck into the house to be with her children. She desperately needed to be with them right now.

"In the short while I've been talking and listening to your excuses, I've become more disgusted with the lot of you, which I honestly was thinking wasn't possible but you've exceeded my expectations. I'm done. You know I exist; that was one of my goals, along with LEAVE BROOKE THE HELL ALONE or you will answer to me. Okay, now I'm done. Please get out?!"

"You can't kick us out," Stephanie and Macy said in unison.

"LF, can I kick them out?" Matt asked.

"I'm going inside to give my grandchildren a bath," Brooke answered, walking away from the remaining Forresters.

"Mom, wait up, I'll help you," Ric agreed, running after her.

"That was a yes, she was just being nicer than you deserved. Get out. And if you don't have kids in the house, please take the gate exit."

"You are an ill-mannered young man. You're definitely Brooke's son," Macy spat.

Matt winked at her. "I'll take that as a compliment. Ya'll have a nice day."

Macy and Thorne turned toward the back gate and left.

"Old woman, you can leave now, too. I've said my peace and I don't want to hear your tirade now or ever. So run along. I'm sure Massimo is waiting for you at some sleazy motel to have his way with you. Stephie, really at your age, meeting your lovers at a motel is so tacky."

Stephanie gasped as her face turned red. How did he know about her private meetings with Massimo? "I- -"

"You need to leave." Taking her hand, Matt escorted Stephanie out of the back gate then closed and locked the gate in her face.

"Ridge, you need to leave, also."

With tears streaming down his face, Ridge stared into the face of the man, the stranger whom he had just met. He thought he could see traces of himself, but he wasn't sure. The tears blinded him as did the pain. "Can we talk before I go?"

"About?"

"About you. How you got here? Why you decimated my family, yet obviously wanted to meet us? What have you been doing all these years I didn't know you existed?"

"You could have known about me, if you had put forth the littlest of efforts. But I'm glad you didn't because then I wouldn't have been raised by the greatest parents ever. They were far from perfect, but I knew they loved me and would walk to hell and back for me. I have a family complete with great-grandparents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. When my parents died, I decided to search for my birth parents. You can imagine my horror as the reports came to me about the Forresters and how they operate as a family. I didn't even think it was possible for a family to be that dysfunctional and still operate, and I was a cop so that's saying a lot. I'm not a complete insensitive lout, I know this is a lot for you to take in. I'm sorry if my not being moved by your pleads and tear hurts you. But we don't have a built-in history like you have with Ric and Budge. When I was a kid whenever I got a new toy, the first thing I would do was take it apart then put it back together. I was always curious as to how something worked. It probably explains why I became a cop, then a PI. I love figuring out why people do what they do, which was why I doubled majored in Psychology and Sociology."

"But Brooke, Ric, you- -"

"I've come to like them. Don't get me wrong, LF isn't some innocent in all of this. But she has taken more crap from you and your family than any person should have to take in three lifetimes. My parents told me I should always help out the abused and LF, as of late, has really been getting her head kicked in by your mother and wife. She's a tough woman, but even the tough ones need a helping hand now and then. I'm her helping hand because unlike Ric and Bridget, I don't care if you like me," Matt smirked.

"Can we get together- -"

The younger man shook his head. "I don't think there's anymore to tell you. I don't want a relationship with you. I just wanted to meet you in the flesh with all my cards on the table and I've done that- -"

"But what about my side of things- -"

"What side?" Matt sighed. Talking to these Forresters was like talking to a brick wall. He now finally understood his mom's numerous complaints about trying to get him to see reason was like banging her head against the floor. He hoped he didn't choke saying this. "Man to man, Ridge. I get it. Brooke was a hot piece on the side who ruined things by getting knocked up- -"

Ridge's fist flew at him, but luckily he had seen it coming. Matt grabbed the fist, spun Ridge around, pinning Ridge's arm to his back in a tight, firm hold.

"Don't you dare talk about her- -She wasn't something on the side, I love her. I loved her. I have loved her from the moment we met."

"Well, you sure as hell didn't act like it for more than five minutes at a time. Ridge, my parents taught me marriage was forever. Through the good times, the bad times, the hard times, the fun times, the rough times, the loving times, the get out of my face I don't want to see you any more times, and the I can't stop touching you times, they were all a part of marriage. And maybe, just maybe, before you try to woo Brooke into another relationship or marriage, you should think about that. Though I pray to God she doesn't give you the time of day. That's all I have to say to you." Matt let go of Ridge and walked towards the house, then paused. "Okay, I was lying - one more thing. From what I've heard, you've gotten your balls back from your mom and your wife. Keep em and maybe Ric and Bridget won't hate you so much."

Ridge watched as his newly discovered son walked away from him and his legs gave out as he cried his heart out.


	22. Chapter 22

He hadn't really thought Matt was that fond of him. It was nothing in particular Matt did or said, it was just a sense he got. Practically raising himself, Deacon Sharpe knew a thing or two about going with his gut. And his gut was telling him, this sail around the Marina wasn't as innocent as it seemed and was going to end badly. He thought about warning Amber about his suspicions, but he didn't bother. One, she wouldn't believe him. And two, she had fallen under Matt's spell as had all the women in the family, except for Bridget. And his young wife was just jealous someone else held the title of offspring of Brooke and Ridge. She didn't realize her petty jealousy of Matt made her seem even more childish than usual. Her childlike behavior was just one of the numerous problems in the farce they called a marriage.

Watching Amber flirt with Matt confirmed his belief that Matt was up to something. But if there's one thing that he had learned about his new brother-in-law was that Matt had the patience of a saint and wouldn't reveal one word, one iota until he was good and ready. He guessed it was a good thing that he could be a patient man when the situation called for it.

"This looks like a good spot to do a little fishin', huh?" Matt asked rhetorically.

"Yes, it is," Amber replied quickly. Damn, he was hot not that Deacon wasn't, but there was something different about Matt. Maybe it was Matt's Midwestern upbringing, but he definitely exuded a sort of old fashioned gentleman type charm. He was the type of guy who always opened doors for a woman and let her enter first. Matt was a straight shooter which she appreciated. He definitely got that from Brooke. Maybe what she liked best of all about him was that he put the spoiled Princess in her place and kept the house Ridge free. Any man who could do that was a god in her book. Though she did wonder why Matt had invited just her and Deacon on this trip. What was he up to?

Matt discreetly observed LF's in-laws and one thing he knew for certain, the principesa and the dupe had definitely inherited their mother's blindness for seeing faults and incompatibility in spouses. Poor kids. If they didn't get their acts together, they would be like their mother- - forty- something with multiple marriages in their past, and all alone. Watching Deacon and Amber, he wondered if they even realized the vibes they gave off just being next to each other. Deacon was a cool cat and Amber was somewhat street smart so he knew they were trying to keep their growing feelings on the down low. If this was them on the down low, what would the two of them be like when their relationship was out in the open? If they weren't married to other people, he would admire their relationship. He knew they had overcome difficult childhoods and scummy parents to get where they were today. In a different world where Deacon and Amber hadn't screwed over two naïve and trusting people, they all might have been friends.

* * *

Deacon couldn't believe it. Had he said Matt had the patience of a saint? He was grossly mistaken. The man had the patience of Job. They had been out here all freakin' day fishing. Fishing! He hated fishing. When was this guy going to cave and just tell him and Amber what was going on? How could Amber just lie there and sunbathe as if nothing was happening? The ability of hers to compartmentalize issues amazed him and annoyed him. He wished he had that ability. Though he was very aware she only used it sometimes. And other times she was consumed with whatever problem was going on in her life, obsessively so almost. Why wasn't there a middle ground with her?

Sighing, he knew he had reached the end of his rope. If Matt didn't say something soon, he was going to force the issue. He was sick of waiting. Stephanie could learn a lot from her grandson on the art of torture.

Seeing Deacon's growing impatience and Amber's self-induced ignorant bliss, Matt decided it was time to put them out of their misery. Though watching Deacon's frustration as he made dinner the longest meal ever was going to be a memory for him to laugh about for years to come. Reaching into his fishing tool kit, he pulled out two separate envelopes and handed one to each of them.

"What's this?" Amber asked curiously as she held the envelope cautiously.

"It's not going to bite you or kill you. If I had wanted to do that, I could have done it earlier today," Matt assured her.

"Was that statement supposed to be reassuring?"

Matt shrugged his shoulders. "It's the truth."

With a suspicious gleam in her eye, Amber opened the envelope. "What are these?"

"Divorce papers and custody papers," Deacon answered. He should have known this was why Matt had brought them out here. His gut was telling him Matt wasn't a cold blooded killer. He hoped his gut was right.

"Divorce? Custody?" Amber questioned surprised.

"Amber, you can't be shocked. You don't love Ric- -"

"That's not true," the blonde shouted.

"Correction, you're not in love with him. You're in love with Deacon. I know it. You know it. Deacon knows it. And finally Ric and la principesa are catching on. These papers will allow you two to be together. Free and clear."

Amber frowned and looked to Deacon for help.

Scanning the documents, Deacon shook his head. "I get nothing."

"Do you deserve anything? Do you think taking advantage of a young girl earns you a few million? I'm not LF, I don't negotiate. I'm a take it or leave it sort of guy," Matt stated casually.

"I'm not walking away from the Forrester money or my son," the younger woman declared.

"Yeah, you are, honey. If you two don't sign these papers, I will spend ever penny of LF's money fighting you two in every court in the country just to ensure you get nothing. Little Eric will be over eighteen by the time the custody battle ends."

"There is no way Stephanie is going to allow Ric, Bridget, or the Forrester name to be dragged through the mud. Ric and Bridget aren't saints," Deacon reminded Matt.

"Compared to you two they are. LF's high powered attorneys will make them look like two poor, innocent, trusting, and naïve rich kids who were duped by two pros. And I will make sure that every single thing either of you have done in your entire lives will be brought to the judge's attention." Turning his attention directly to Deacon, Matt said slowly and precisely, "I will contact every person you've ever known."

Deacon tried hard not to sweat upon hearing Matt's words. He saw the look in Matt's eyes and knew instantly that Matt somehow knew where all the bodies were buried. He and Amber were royally screwed.

"And you're not walking away empty handed, you have each other and your lives. I heard the East Coast is beautiful this time of year," Matt concluded.

"Who do you think you are? You can't boss us around. You can't force us to do anything we don't want to do. Deacon, tell him," Amber said, imploring her lover to defend them.

Deacon knew when to fold them. And it was definitely time to fold. Shaking his head, he reached inside the envelope, grabbed the pen, and scrawled his signature on the divorce papers.

"Deacon, baby, what are you doing?"

Ignoring Amber, Deacon concentrated on Matt. "Will Little D be okay?"

"Deacon!" Amber screamed, trying to get Deacon's attention. What was he doing? He couldn't give up. She couldn't give up her lifestyle to go back to the trailer park. She refused to do so. She had worked too hard to get where she was now to give in and call it quits.

"Yes. Eric Forrester, Junior, loves Eric Forrester III and would lay his life down over and over again for that little boy. And with the help of Clarke Garrison, Junior, Bridget, and Brooke, he will be a well-loved and taken care of."

"What does CJ have to do with Little Eric or Ric? He has no connection to my son- -" Amber began.

Matt shook his head. "Amber, unlike you, Ric remembers that CJ was a dad to Little Eric when CJ and your cousin were married. Why do you think Ric takes Little Eric to Forrester every day? So CJ and the baby can spend some quality time together while he works. Three times a week, they all have lunch together. Sometimes Brooke or Bridget joins them. While you were busy trying to pull the wool over Ric's eyes, you were missing all the things he was doing out in the open. So, Amber, sign the papers and think of Little Eric fondly. Cause what - in about seven-and-a-half months you'll have your hands full with Little Deacon or Deaconette?"

Amber's face turned bright red.

Deacon's mouth flew open. Amber was pregnant. They had been so careful. Feelings of both shock and joy coursed through his body. A baby of their own. "Amber, are you pregnant?" He needed her to confirm Matt's words.

She slowly nodded her head and in the next instant she was in Deacon's arms being twirled around. "Deacon. Deacon. Deacon! Deacon, put me down!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, Amb." He gently put his baby's mother down on the deck.

"You're okay with this?"

"Sign the papers. We've got a new life to start."

"But with no money?" Amber questioned.

"Trust me," Deacon responded and waited. And then he saw it, slowly but surely after everything she had been through trust shined from his blonde lover's eyes and she signed the papers. He had never had such trust placed in him. He promised he would never let her down. And he prayed that one day Little Eric would understand the decisions he'd made.

Seeing his work was done, Matt started the engine and turned the boat around. The dupe and la principesa had now been given a second chance. Hopefully, they would use this new found freedom to make wiser decisions the next time around.


	23. Chapter 23

"Come in, Logan," Ridge called out just as she raised her hand to knock on the beach house's front door.

Opening the door, Brooke entered the house and found Ridge in the kitchen mixing drinks.

"Do you want a margarita?"

She shook her head. What was going on here? He was in a chipper mood. She had expected him to be angry, upset, yelling at her for not telling him about Matt.

"Oh, don't worry, I'm not crazy. I am madder than hell at you. But through two daily fifty minute sessions for the past two weeks and these margaritas, I'm feeling pretty mellow towards you and the world."

Ah, that explained the pleasant attitude.

"Come out back with me so we can chat."

Putting her purse on the counter, Brooke followed Ridge outside to the sand.

They quietly sat side by side in lounge chairs enjoying the sound of the surf.

The tranquility was slowly lulling Brooke to sleep. Her worry over her upcoming conversation with Ridge had given her lots of sleepless nights.

"Were you ever going to tell me?"

"No."

"You hate me that much?"

"If I hated you, I wouldn't be here. I wouldn't have hung around after our engagement ended and after I lost one of our twins."

"If you didn't hate me, then why didn't you tell me?"

Brooke heard the doubt and confusion in his voice. She had been prepared for it, but she knew no matter what or how she answered he would never truly understand. "What kind of life would Matt have had?"

"A good one. One where he was loved by his parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins. One where he wouldn't have had to search for us or treat us like strangers- -"

She loved Ridge, but she was through pretending with him. She was through looking at life with rose-colored glasses on. "Do you really believe that? Do you really think we would have lived happily ever after? Weren't you married to Caroline when I gave birth to Matt? That would have been a great honeymoon call. 'Hey Ridge, can you come to Meritcare Hospital in Fargo, North Dakota? I just gave birth to our son that I didn't mention I was still pregnant with.' Do you think for one minute your mother would have been okay with that? Do you think she would have let me keep my son? My son. Not hers, not the reincarnation of her beloved Ridge, but my son- -"

"I wouldn't have let her- -"

"You wouldn't have let her do what? Talk about me? Call me a whore, tramp, slut, home wrecker? Humiliate me, drag my name through the mud? Try to take my child- -"

"She wouldn't- -"

"She wouldn't what? She's done all that stuff, Ridge. She's done it. I was out of my mind, you and my family were looking for me, and she decides that was the time to sue for custody of Ric and Bridget. So don't you dare tell me what she wouldn't have done. I have all of her past behavior as evidence to contradict anything that could possibly come out of your mouth. And what about Caroline? She forgave you for our affair, but would she have been able to have a living, breathing reminder of the woman you left her for? I made the right decision for all of us."

Spinning around on the lounge, Ridge sat up and threw off his sunglasses. "You didn't have the right to make that decision. I should have been consulted. I should have known that I had a son. I should have been at your doctor's visits. I should have been able to feel my son kick for the first time. I should have been able to look into his- -damn it, I don't even know what color my son's eyes are."

"Brown."

"I should know that. I should know that, but I don't because you were being petty, selfish, and childish and wanted to get back at me for choosing Caroline over you."

Brooke jumped up from her lounge chair and roared. "You arrogant, self-absorbed prick. Your last statement, your whole conversation has me praising God that I did allow our son to be adopted so he didn't have you as a role model. All you can think about is yourself and what you missed out on in this utopia of a world you live in where everyone bows down to you. Well, hello, Ridge Forrester, that's not the real world. The world I live in is one where I could give you tons of 'should haves'. I should have had a fiancée who still married me after I lost our child. And not one who ran back to the woman his mommy liked better than me. I should have had a husband, who after finding out the devastating news that his daughter wasn't his biological daughter, said, 'I don't care. She's my daughter. I love her and I love you and our son. And we'll all love Thomas together.' But instead my husband ran like a coward, a pussy, like a slithering worm, he took off and ran to his mommy-approved bride. I should have had a best friend who didn't use all of my darkest secrets and desires, all of our shared history against me in order to get my fiancée to dump me. So if you want to talk 'should haves' I'm sure I could match you toe to toe. I missed out on Matt's first step, first word, first day of school, first feeding, first dance, first heartbreak, first rodeo, and I live with that every day. But I see the young man that he is and I know that I couldn't have raised a man that fine. I see a man who looks at the madness of our relationship, this dysfunctional family, which somehow keeps it together in order to run a very successful company, with disgust and loathing. We are aliens to him and the world he comes from. He comes from something that is clean and untwisted. I can't say the same thing about Ric and Bridget. Can you say that about Thomas, Pheebs, and Stephie?"

Ridge stared into her eyes. He looked into the beautiful, brilliant, hurt, outraged green eyes he had loved for so long and started crying. When had everything become such a mess? Where had it all gone so wrong? How could he be part of such a dysfunctional family that Brooke had rather give up their son, then allow him to be raised here with them?

Seeing Ridge's tears, Brooke lowered herself to his level and silently wrapped her arms around him as they both cried for all they had lost and the pain and the hurt that had brought them to this point in their lives. But mostly they cried for the son they had once lost and now knew, and the one they never got a chance to meet.

_Cause um  
The sex was good  
You had my mind  
And I, I let you come back every time  
You would violate and cross the line  
And you knew that I would be the type  
To always wait so patiently  
Thinkin' you was comin' home to me  
Well damn, I never heard the keys  
Or felt ya taps sayin' are you sleep_

"Was I really awful as a husband?" Ridge questioned, disturbing the peace which had transcended after their early conversation.

Honesty without cruelty. Ridge deserved that much. "You were a great husband when we were together, but getting you to the altar or getting you to commit to marriage was difficult. And the way you ended our marriages was heartbreaking. One minute, we were madly in love, a happy family, and the next all I saw was your back as you ran, not walked, out of my life and my children's. You never once turned your head back to see how we were and that's not saying that you weren't hurting, that you weren't struggling with your decision. I saw you a few times staring at our family picture. I caught you looking longingly at Ric and Budge at family events and some of the school events- -

Ridge gasped.

"Yes, I saw you. But what was I supposed to say or do? While I knew you missed us, you didn't love us enough to stay- -"

"I did love you- -"

"No, if you had truly, truly loved us you would have stayed with us. Damn everyone else to hell. I realize now we were playing house."

_Don't wanna  
Play house no more  
So dumb  
To think you gon' marry me  
I got to be out my mind  
To think I need someone to carry me  
I've done enough  
Cryin', cryin', cryin'  
Cryin', cryin', cryin'  
It's time to say bye, bye, bye  
It's time I do something  
For me_

"That's not true," Ridge spat.

"Then you tell me how you would grade yourself as the husband of Brooke Logan? As the father to Eric Forrester, Junior, and Bridget Forrester?"

Looking into her green eyes, he deeply contemplated his next words. Had he been good enough to them? Part of him wanted to say yes, but he knew that wasn't completely true. "I tried."

She huffed, but she was secretly relieved he hadn't lied to her. She'd take "I tried." "I didn't want to give that answer to Matt when he came to me and asked why he spent Christmas in the even years with you and Caroline and the odd ones with me and my family. Or why Stephanie hated me so much? 'I tried' wasn't going to cut it. You either are there for your kids or you're not, but trying and being partially committed doesn't cut it. It's a thousand times worse than not being there at all. I can see that clearly now. Bridget and Ric questioned why you didn't stay, why you didn't love them enough? And just when they were okay with everything, you would say or do something that sucked them back in. I'm done."

_It's time  
I choose my foes  
Choose my friends  
Be with my family  
Baby, listen, Girlfriend  
Where you been?  
We ain't seen you in weeks_

"I allowed- - I gave you the power to hurt me and my children by clinging to this hope that you were coming back to me, to us. I kept hoping and praying. And when all was lost and I moved on, then you swooped back into my life with your jealous rages and I was hooked again."

_  
Been chasin' this fool around  
Thinkin' he gon' hold me down  
I would follow his lead  
Thinkin' I would be the one  
He keep around  
When I ain't need  
Not ya finance  
And all that I needed  
Real commitment  
I really couldn't see it_

"I gave up what could have been good, loving, long-lasting relationships with men who genuinely loved me and had no crazy mom lurking in the background for the chance that you would become my knight in shining armor, my Prince Charming once again. And each time I got on the roller coaster, my children did, too."

_Not the real man_

_Said you was being in this relationship  
So many men think all  
A girl needs is to be sold a dream  
But I won't fall for it_

"But it's not all your fault, Ridge, never think that. You couldn't have hurt me or my children if I hadn't given you the power- -"

"It wasn't power, it was love," the dark-haired man declared passionately.

"In the beginning, it was love. But I sure as hell don't know what Portafino and Paris were, because they sure as hell weren't love."

"Portafino wasn't hate, don't you dare think that."

Shaking her blonde hair, Brooke turned her gaze to the water. "It wasn't love either."

_Don't wanna  
Play house no more  
So dumb  
To think you gon' marry me  
I got to be out my mind  
To think I need someone to carry me  
I've done enough  
Cryin', cryin', cryin'  
Cryin', cryin', cryin'  
It's time to say bye, bye, bye  
It's time I do something  
For me_


	24. Chapter 24

"Can you believe her?" Stephanie asked incredulously, walking into Taylor's and Ridge's former home.

"Hello, Stephanie," Taylor greeted, trying to gently reprimand her ex-mother-in-law's manners but of course she was ignored. "Stephanie, I really don't want to talk about Brooke."

"How could she hide my grandson from me? How could that tramp do this to Ridge? She denied him the right to know his own son. She let strangers raise him. He's a Forrester, not an Olsen," the older woman lamented.

She really didn't want to hear this and after spending a few months away from Ridge, away from the day-to-day madness that was the Forrester family, she had gained some insight into her former in-laws. "He is an Olsen. The Olsen family is the one who reared him, loved him, taught him, and helped shape him into the man he is today. They are more his family than the strangers who are the Forresters."

Staring at the woman whom she loved like a daughter, the grey-haired woman shook her head. Who was this woman speaking to her? These weren't things her beloved Taylor would say. She hadn't realized the divorce had affected Taylor mentally. How else could the younger woman's statement be explained? "We are his family. And he would know that if that selfish witch hadn't stolen him from us."

What to do? What to do? What to do? Taylor contemplated her options. She could remain silent and let Stephanie's rant continue until she became hoarse. Or she could do something she had never done, assert her own opinion, and tell Stephanie what she really thought. For once she would go with the latter and really shock her mother figure. "Brooke didn't steal Matt from you or Ridge. Was she wrong in not telling anyone about Matt? Yes. But what sort of man does this make Ridge? His ex-fiancée was still pregnant with one of his children, but he was so caught up in his life with his former/current fiancée cum wife that he didn't give Brooke a second thought. He didn't go see her to say, 'I miss our child as much as you do. How are you? How are you coping?' He knew she had no one. He had Caroline he could talk to, to share his feelings with. Who did Brooke have? Absolutely no one. The one person she should have been able to share her heartbreak with, had left her in the dust in his haste to get back to his kid free existence, to live the life his parents wanted him to live."

If she had been a lower class of woman, Stephanie's mouth would have dropped at hearing Taylor's tirade. When had her daughter turned into Brooke's number one fan and Ridge's number one enemy?

"And before you say anything, Stephanie, I love your son. I will die loving your son. He is the father of my children. But what he did to Brooke was cruel. She was fresh out of college, her fiancée had left her- - I think she made the right decision. She had the courage to put Matt's needs ahead of her own. To put his life first. She sacrificed her place in his life so he could grow up where he was wanted by both parents. I envy him."

"You envy him?!"

"He got to grow up away from this madness. How do you think it would have affected him to hear his grandmother call his mother a tramp, a whore, every time he turned around? I'm amazed at how long Bridget and Ric were kept in the dark in regards to your hatred of their mother. Matt had a fresh start none of the rest of the Forrester kids had- -"

"Have you gone mad? I thought you were going to therapy to get healthy. It seems to have made you worse." She had known from the minute Taylor mentioned seeing a therapist that it was going to end badly. This conversation was her proof.

"Why? Because I don't agree with you? I'm my own person, Stephanie, with my own thoughts, feelings, and opinions. And my opinion is Matt was dead-on about everything he had to say about this family. He has the objectivity that none of us has because we all live in this dysfunctional bubble."

"Dysfunctional bubble?" Stephanie repeated as if the words were foreign to her.

"Yes. This family gives dysfunctional a whole new meaning. What other family could one girl from the Valley fall in love with the beloved son from the wealthy Westside family and cause the matriarch to hate her with a passion that knows no bounds for the next twenty plus years? That's dysfunction, obsession, madness- - take your pick. Hell, it's all those things."

"Taylor," Stephanie pleaded.

"No, Stephanie, it is. No one once stood up to you and defended Brooke. Not Eric, Thorne, and sure as hell not Ridge. I was only married to him for as long as I was because he feared disappointing you and because you interfered. I have no illusions about that and I accept it. We had some great years and I know he loved me with all of his heart. But I also realized that if you had healthy feelings towards Brooke and Ridge, they would have married when she found she was pregnant and they would still be married now."

Once again, Stephanie was speechless. She didn't even know what to say or what she could say to this younger woman. Gazing into Taylor's eyes, she realized there was nothing left to say, at least for now. "Taylor, I suggest you stop seeing that quack therapist, take two aspirin, lie down, and call me when you're feeling better." Walking over to her daughter, she kissed her cheek, picked up her purse and left.

Damn it. Why did Stephanie always get to have the last word? Why was something wrong with her just because for once she sided with Brooke? Why had she ever fallen in love with Ridge and become part of this crazy family?

* * *

"Come in," Ric's voice rang out clearly.

Ridge walked in and took a seat while Ric's back was turned to him.

"How can- -" Ric saw his brother seated across from him. "What do you want?"

"I wanted to tell you I was sorry to hear about you and Amber. And I'm glad you got sole custody of Little Eric."

"Why? You never liked her. And you barely know my son. So why are you really here?"

"You're right. I was never Amber's biggest fan, but I know you loved her and you wanted your marriage to work. And I admire the courage and the strength you have to raise a child all by yourself. I wish I had your courage and strength when I was your age. If I had, I wouldn't have been such a crappy father to you and your sister and your mom would have told me about Matt."

"Ah, the real reason why you're here. If you had had real courage, you would have never given my mom a second look because you would have been completely devoted to Caroline. And as for being a crappy father, you would have needed more than courage and strength. You would have needed to be a man," Ric informed him.

The pain radiating throughout Ridge's body was crippling. Ric's words cut and hurt more than anything he had ever experienced.

Seeing Ridge flinch, Ric pounced. "Oh, what have I hurt your feelings? What happened to the new and improved Ridge Forrester? He can't take the truth."

Ridge closed his eyes for a second, he knew now he couldn't allow Ric to see the pain he caused. Opening his eyes, he stared into the younger man's eyes. "I can take the truth. I'm just ashamed and embarrassed at my past actions. I'm sorry and saddened that I wasn't smart enough, man enough, to tell Taylor that I had a family, I had kids, and while I would welcome she and Thomas, into our lives I couldn't give up my existing one for them. I'm mortified that after I gave up my life for Taylor and Thomas that I was such a petty, selfish man that I thought if I couldn't be your full-time dad, the only man you looked up to, the only man you called daddy, then I wasn't going to try and be a part of your lives at all. I live every day with the guilt that my all or nothing attitude cost you, Budge, your mom, Taylor, Thomas, and me. I left you prey to Amber. I was the reason your mom kept bringing men into your lives trying to find Mr. Right when I knew I was her Mr. Right and did everything I could to sabotage her relationships. Her chance at happiness. A happiness I was enjoying with Taylor and the kids. I'm barely a better father than Joe Jackson."

"Uh, he might have beat them, but at least they knew he loved them."

"I'm sorry, Eric Forrester, Junior. I'm sorry I hurt you. And I know this is late in coming, but I had to say it. I know it doesn't ease the pain and hurt you've been through but you deserve to hear these words from my mouth," Ridge finished.

Ric sat back in his chair and studied Ridge.

The older man found the silence unnerving but he refused to break it. He could put up with and stand up to whatever Ric felt he had to dish out. He was not giving up on his son.

The clapping broke Ridge's reverie.

"Bravo! Bravo! Is this the part where I start crying and I throw myself in your arms, say I forgive you, and we ride off into the sunset together, father and son? Because if that's what you're waiting for- -you'll die before that happens. You disgust me. Do you think your apologies mean something to me? Besides being over twenty-five years too late? No, don't say anything. You've had your say, now it's my turn. How dare you come in here and lay your apology at my feet after admitting you ruined any chance of my mom being happy. Her happiness, as you know, affected our happiness. You're sorry that it was my mom who attended my Boy Scout meetings, that it was my Uncle Storm who took me to father/son outings, that you broke my heart when you walked out of our lives. Are you sorry that Bridget still cries over your leaving and will until she's old and grey? How she mourns the loss of her precious daddy? Is your weak apology going to make up for the fact the tabloids branded my mother a whore and a home wrecker because you kept her love for you alive with your innuendos, half-promises, and caresses? Do you know what it's like to walk down the hallway of your school and hear people talking about your mom and wanting to beat the crap out of them, but you can't because you know that will hurt her even more than she's already hurting? Do you know what it's like to hear your mother cry when she thinks you're asleep night after night after night? Do you know how helpless I felt in a house full of mourning women? Women mourning a worthless dick who cared nothing about their feelings. Why don't you just leave? Go back to your new kids, the better and improved Ric and Bridgets," Ric concluded with anger blazing in his eyes.

Ignoring his tears, Ridge let them fall down his cheeks in a continuous stream. "Thomas never replaced you; do you know how I introduce Thomas and the twins?"

Ric shook his head.

"I introduce them as my son and daughters. I never call Thomas my eldest son because he isn't. You are," the older man answered. "I love you." Turning, Ridge walked out of his son's office without saying another word, leaving Ric to contemplate his final words.

_Don't it always seem to go_

_That you don't know what you've got til it's gone_

_They paved paradise_

_And put up a parking lot_


	25. Chapter 25

"Who do you think you are denying me the right to see my grandson?" Stephanie spat, blazing into Brooke's office, ignoring Brooke's assistant and their obvious meeting.

"I'll let you two talk," the younger blonde said quickly, exiting the office before Brooke could say differently.

"Stephanie, I don't have to explain myself to you," Brooke answered nonchalantly.

The younger woman's answer infuriated the older woman. "Yes, you do. All your life you've been dying to be a Forrester. Looking to join this family anyway you could, but you could never be a Forrester. Forresters love and protect their own, while all you did was throw away your child because you couldn't get the man. You probably only kept Ric because you saw him as your foothold into the family and Bridget because you thought she was Ridge's."

Brooke knew Stephanie was just saying these things to get to her, but it worked. No one. No one questioned her love for her children. Or the sacrifices she made for them.

"But why should I be surprised? The only person you love is you, Brooke Logan. You didn't care that every attempt to bed a Forrester man was plastered all over the tabloids, gossip shows, the radio. You didn't care that your dad, mom, Storm, Donna, and Katie had to work with people who knew their daughter, their sister couldn't keep her legs closed. Why do you think they moved to Paris? Did you ever stop to think why no one could live in Los Angeles with you? Your trampish behavior drove your family from the only home they had ever known."

Stephanie's words brought to the forefront Brooke's worst fears and worries. Had her desperate need to be Mrs. Ridge Forrester caused her family to leave Los Angeles? Did it cause a rift in the family that still to this day wasn't healed? Had she, long before Stephen joined Stephanie's, Massimo's, and Taylor's sinister plot, been the one to destroy the Logan family? She prayed it wasn't so, but on those lonely lights when she wished her mother only lived down the street instead of thousands, upon thousands of miles away, she knew it was true. She had done this. Her behavior was so different than the way she was raised. How had she gotten to this point? Why had she been so anxious for a man's love who obviously didn't love her or wouldn't allow himself to love her, to stand up for her? She couldn't let Stephanie see her words affecting her. She had to remain strong. Taking a deep breath, Brooke quickly closed and opened her eyes and stared down Stephanie. "When I imagined getting married, I imagined meeting my knight in shining armor. He would be part of this wonderful family. I would call his parents mom and dad, too. His brothers and sisters would be mine, too. We would be one big happy family. Even after meeting you and Eric, I thought it was possible. But maybe when you were choking the life out of me. Or when you had Stephen lie to me about being terminally ill. Or maybe when you had someone try and push me off the Eiffel Tower, I stopped caring. I stopped caring if you would ever like, accept, or want me. My fantasy of happily ever after with Ridge died when he forgave Taylor for her part in this debacle. So you don't have to worry about me becoming part of your family ever again. Let us be clear on that matter- -"

"I've heard that before- -"

"I've never had my heart ripped out like it has been in these past few years. I would move my family and my company to Antarctica before I would become part of your family. And yes, I said my company. Because that's what this is. Fifty-one percent means it's mine. Brooke's bedroom line generating enough money to support this whole company, with some great help from BLF, means this is mine, and without me Forrester would crumble," Brooke said, matter-of-factly.

Her calm tone was disturbing to her former mother-in-law. Stephanie Forrester was used to passion, outrage, anger from her. This was a Brooke she wasn't accustomed to. Could the blonde be telling the truth? Had she finally rid herself of Brooke Logan once and for all? She could only pray. Now if she could pull Matt into their fold, she would truly be free of the whore. Though she didn't appreciate Brooke's threats about Forrester. She and Eric had worked their fingers numb, getting this company off the ground. Damn him, Ridge, and Thorne for being too weak to resist the blonde twit! Damn them for putting their company in her hands!

"As for my children, I don't think the woman who only loves her oldest son should be casting stones about what I do for my children or how much I love them?"

"I love all my children and for you to imply otherwise…" Stephanie huffed.

"Do you want to put it to the test? Because I'm sure if I asked your children or anyone that's ever seen you with all four, that is if they know you have four, would tell you that all your love is for Ridge. How could you possibly have time for the others, or Eric for that matter? With every breath you speak, I thank God that He gave me the common sense and love to make sure my son didn't grow up around your venom. I don't regret my decision for a minute." Shaking her head, she stared at the angry older woman. "I would die for my children. I would do anything for Ric and Bridget and they know it. How did I ever think you would be capable of loving me and treating me like a daughter when you didn't and don't love the two you gave birth two? How could I have ever been so naïve? But don't worry, the blinders are off. Maybe my rose-colored glasses are at the bottom of the Eiffel Tower." She smirked. "But wherever they are, they are long gone. And know this, Stephanie; I won't take your crap any longer. Neither will my children. I'm through being considerate of your feelings, while you trample all over me like I'm less than human. I deserve better than that, I deserve better than this family, but it was the hand I helped dealt so I'll live with it. From now on, we're business associates. Well to be technical, I'm your boss. Don't talk to me, look at me, or even glance in my direction if it isn't business oriented. Now I have work to do and assume you do, too, based on the salary I'm paying you." Brooke sat in her chair, turned to face her computer, and began working.

Her face was red with anger. Stephanie had never been dismissed in her life. And it wasn't about to happen now. Especially not from some Valley girl who slept her way into this family. "You dirty, skanky, wh- -"

"Suspiciously your statement doesn't sound like it's going to be work-related. Because if it's not, I'm going to have to terminate your contract effective immediately and I'll have security and the cops escort you out of the building, physically. And I'm sure our guards and the cops don't want to ruin their day by dragging an old woman out of a building, but they'll do it if necessary. So I would think carefully before you say your next words. Oh, and in regards to Matt, if you don't think he's Ridge's, please feel free to ask him for the DNA test results. I think he's had the test run about a dozen times, using samples from you, Eric, Ridge, Thorne, and Felicia. Hell, he even got a sample from Jessica. He still can't believe he's biologically related to you guys. Good day," Brooke concluded, immediately dismissing Stephanie from her thoughts.

Stephanie stood there, ready to explode, but she knew this was neither the time nor the place. But she would have her vengeance, she thought as she stormed out of the CEO's office.


	26. Chapter 26

"Did you hear what he said?" Thorne asked, disgusted, as he threw the fabric down on the table. "Who does he think he is?"

"A man who speaks the truth," Felicia replied.

Her older brother's head snapped up. "You think he was telling the truth?"

"I know he was- -"

"You think I'm some ball-less, scum- -"

"If a person was trying to choke me to death, I would hope and pray that AJ, the man I love, would beat that person until he or she stopped moving, regardless if it was his mother or father. Not only did you allow Mother to choke Brooke, but you helped cover it up."

"I did not allow Mother to lay a finger on Brooke."

"Semantics. How do you think that made her feel? You would take Mother's side over hers. Once again, another Forrester male who claimed to love and adore her but only second to Stephanie Forrester. If it had been me in that situation, I would have left you then and there and never spoke to you again. But once again, Brooke is a nicer person than me. Or maybe she's a sadist? I'm not sure. But she has put up with more from this family than even I have and I was born into it. It's about time a Forrester male stood up for her."

"I defended her and our relationship to this whole family. I was willing to cut myself off from Mother and Dad for her," Thorne reminded his sister.

"Yeah and at the first hint of Ridge sniffng around, you go running to Macy. If you're looking for sympathy then don't look at me. Go try and sell it to Kristen because I'm not buying it. I'm not saying Brooke was a saint in your relationship, but you weren't acting like any man I would want to spend the rest of my life with. Besides, you knew from the start this relationship was doomed," Felicia commented, playing with the feels of the various fabrics spread out across the table.

"And I was I supposed to know that, oh wise one," Thorne questioned snidely.

"Big bro is getting testy. From history. From the night they met. I wasn't allowed down at the party because I wasn't old enough, but I saw Ridge corner Brooke, and I could feel the heat between them and I was a child then. That first night she was branded by Ridge and he was not going to let any man have her. You knew it, but you had to compete with him and you lost. Thorne, I love having a man in my life who loves me for me. Would I be hurt if I somehow found out AJ said I wasn't his soul mate? Yes. But I would remember that he loves me, is completely committed to our marriage, is faithful, and wants to spend the rest of his life with me. And at the end of the day, I would be better off than his soul mate, whom he wasn't with. Matt told a truth that needed to be told. I applaud him for it. Hopefully his words will spark a change in this family." Picking up a roll of fabric, the brunette headed for the door. "Thorne, you're happily married to Macy. You guys are finally having a baby together. Let the rest go. Let Brooke go. Let your anger with Ridge go. You've got too much to look forward to to let the past hold you back."

"You think I let Mother run all over me?" her brother questioned not able to let the subject go.

"Mother loves Macy. Macy loves Mother. And the baby will give Mother and Sally something else to argue over. Enjoy your life! Love you," she called out, closing his office door behind him.

Felicia never answered his question. Was he another Ridge? Was he really that bad when it came to his mother? Yes, he longed for her approval. For her to bestow at least a tenth of the attention on him that she gave to Ridge. But did he let her control all aspects of his life? He didn't think so. She hadn't been happy when he first started seeing Macy, but as she got to know Macy, she had fallen in love with her, also. Maybe it was only with Brooke that he allowed his mother to have more influence over him. Maybe they all did. He thought back over the years. The times he had winced as his mother spewed her hate at Brooke. The times he had wished the ground would swallow him whole rather than hear his mother's tirade against Brooke in front of them all. Why hadn't he stood up more? Why hadn't he said more? Why had he allowed the abuse to occur? What did that say about the man he was, or thought himself to be? Wouldn't he want someone to help his soon-to-be son or daughter if they had been in Brooke's situation? Closing his eyes, Thorne let his questions flow over him as he contemplated his answers.

* * *

Where was everyone? Ridge thought as he made his way through his former home. The front door was unlocked so obviously someone was here. Glancing at all the toys neatly put in bins, he would have to assume Annika and Michael weren't home, which probably meant Matt wasn't home either. Ridge was slightly disappointed; he had wanted to see his son. Talk to him a little. Maybe they could find some common ground. "Anyone here?" Noticing the door leading to the pool was ajar, Ridge headed towards the backyard. His eye caught sight of someone lying on a padded lounge chair in the fetal position. Worried, Ridge raced over. "Budge, are you okay?"

A whimpering cry was the only response.

His worry increased. The older man sat on the edge of the chair and gently rubbed her back. "Baby, you can tell me what it is. Whatever it is, we can work on it together."

Slowly turning around, Bridget threw her arms around Ridge.

"Sweetie, talk to me."

"I'm a divorcee. I'm nineteen years old and I'm divorced. The man that I loved and wanted to spend the rest of my life has left me for my sister-in-law."

Pulling the first baby he had ever held in his lap, he soothingly rocked her. Ridge's heart broke for the girl, woman, he loved as his daughter. At her age, he was making his rounds at his fraternity's sister sorority. His only concern was keeping his grades up to stay on the basketball team, his art and design classes, and seeing how many girls he could get. Marriage and divorce were the last things on his mind back then. Had he done this? Had he caused his two children with Brooke to grow up faster by abandoning them? Before the thought could fully formulate in his mind, he knew the answer. He knew it was yes. The pain his baby girl was going through was largely his fault. "Bridget, can you look at me for a minute?"

Raising her head, Bridget's red, tear-filled eyes gazed into his.

Her tears tried and convicted him. "I'm so sorry. I'm sorry that I was the first man who broke your heart. That I was the man who left you ripe for that scum Deacon."

Bridget's eyes widened.

"He was scum not because of his background or where he came from, but because he used you. He didn't appreciate you. See your beauty. I should have been here for you to teach you the good things to look for in a man. All you've had for a constant role model is Ric. The other Forrester men let you down. All we did was leave. But we were stupid. We were idiots. A smart man never leaves a great woman. And an even half-way intelligent man never, never leaves his kids behind. But I did. And I'm sorry."

"Why did you leave? If you had to leave Momma, did you have to leave Ric and me behind, too? Didn't you love us?" she cried.

Hugging her tightly, Ridge sighed. The damage he caused. "I love you with all that I am. From the moment your mother told me about you, I was on cloud nine. And when I first held you in my arms. I knew at that moment that God was smiling down on me." He grew quiet remembering the fear he felt at being solely responsible for delivering another human being. And the awesome joy he felt at watching his daughter emerge into the world, into his hands. He remembered his prayers of thanks and the millions of questions and doubts that ran through his mind.

_From the first time the doctor placed you in my arms_

_I knew I'd meet death before I'd let you meet harm_

_Although questions arose in my mind, would I be man enough?_

_Against wrong, choose right and be standin up_

_From the hospital that first night_

_Took a hour just to get the car seat in right_

_People drivin all fast, got me kinda upset_

_Got you home safe, placed you in your bassinette_

_That night I don't think one wink I slept_

_As I slipped out my bed, to your crib I crept_

_Touched your head gently, felt my heart melt_

_Cause I know I loved you more than life itself_

_Then to my knees, and I begged the Lord please_

_Let me be a good daddy, all he needs_

_Love, knowledge, discipline too_

_I pledge my life to you_

"He had given me the most perfect daughter to go along with the wonderful son I already had. I had it all in the palm of my hand. And I threw it away. I was a coward and I threw my family away. I destroyed the family the four of us created. And then to make matters worse, I selfishly put my feelings first. I knew how devastated you and Ric were. How much you needed me in your lives. To continue the only role you knew me in. But it hurt. It hurt not to be your daddy. You were my princess, my angel, and to know you weren't flesh of my flesh killed me. And really how silly was that because Ric wasn't my biological son, yet I loved him every bit as much as I loved you. I broke your hearts rather than stand up for what I knew what was right. Rather than go against the grain, I slaughtered the three people I supposedly loved most in the world. I don't know if you can ever forgive me. I'm not even sure I deserve your forgiveness," Ridge said honestly. "But please know that I love you. And I'm here for you now and I'm never leaving again." He softly began to sing to her.

_I knew just what to say_

_Now I found out today_

_All the words had slipped away but I know_

_There's always a chance_

_A tiny spark will remain_

_And sparks turn into flames_

_And love can burn once again_

_Whenever you call me, I'll be there  
Whenever you want me, I'll be there  
Whenever you need me, I'll be there  
I'll be around_

"I'm here to stay. I know it hurts right now. But you have your whole life ahead of you. What of your dreams to leave LA and go to college somewhere new and different? What about my princess' talks about living in Tokyo and learning fluent Japanese? I can relate to the pain of divorce, but your future lays ahead of you. I know, somehow, through all the crap I've put you through and Deacon, that inside of you lies your optimism and your hope. It's time to reclaim those dreams and I'll be right here to help you. And when the time is right and you're ready, a man will come into your life who will be like no man you have ever known before. He will be loving, sensitive, kind, upstanding. He will slay dragons for you and stand by your side as you slay them yourself. He will stand at the front of the church and declare to the world that he is yours. He will hold your hand as you welcome your first little one into the world. And as you send off your kids to their first day of school and watch them graduate from college, he will be there. He will be there loving you until you both take your dying breaths."

"Will you be there?" Bridget asked in a whisper.

"Yes, my daughter I will," he promised with tears in his eyes.

_Whenever you call me, I'll be there_

_Whenever you want me, I'll be there_

_Even if I have to crawl_

_I'll be there_

_I'll be around_

_Just call me on the phone_

_I'll be there_

_I'll never leave you alone_

_I'll be there_

_Just call out my name_

_I know you know you know_

_I'll be around_


	27. Chapter 27

"So is this the rich, shi-shi poo-poo place you take all your rich clients and famous customers to," Matt asked, as he looked around Café Russo.

"If I had known you wanted shi-shi poo-poo, I would have taken you to the Ivy. So you could get that chance at asking Halle Berry out," Brooke returned.

"Are you trying to imply that she would say no?" he asked.

Hearing the teasing note in his voice, she tried to keep a straight face. "Of course not. She would be honored to have my smart, handsome son ask her out."

"Your son, huh?"

Brooke stared into the eyes that had become very familiar to her. "Yes, my son." She repeated the phrase a few more times.

"It sounds weird, doesn't it?"

She nodded. "For so long you were just this baby in my head."

"You never imagined what I would be like as a teen? As a kindgartner?" He was curious to know her answer.

"No, not really. I couldn't allow myself to. Though once I had Ric and Bridget, then I would see a boy around the age you were and I wondered if he was you. If I saw an older brother with a younger brother and sister, I would think of you. But I tried to keep you in your box."

"You couldn't talk to your family about me. About missing me?"

"I'm sure I could have, but I never did. The times Storm or my mom brought you up, I would just shut them down. But every year on your birthday, Donna sends me flowers saying she loves me." Her family had followed her lead when it came to Matt. They hadn't pressured her to talk about the son she'd lost or the son she had given up for adoption. She was grateful for that. She would have to remember to call each of them and thank them. "So to completely change the subject, what are you doing with your life?"

"What? Are you sick of having us around?"

Brooke smiled. "You, maybe. My Anni and Mikey, never."

"Hey, we're a package deal."

"Yes, you are," she said, going from teasing to serious in a split-second, "your parents would be so proud of what a great job you're doing taking care of them."

"Ah, LF, are you trying to make me blush?"

"Is that even possible?"

"I'll never tell," he said in a sing-songy voice.

"That was a great movie," a familiar voice chimed in.

"Good evening, Ridge," Brooke greeted.

"Ridge," Matt said.

"Logan, Matt, hello. How are you?" Ridge inquired.

The younger man saw his biological father move to his right and knew he wanted to be asked to join them. He had been looking forward to a kid free dinner with LF, but his momma raised him better than that. "Ridge, would you like to join us?"

Those Midwestern manners kicking in, Brooke thought. She smiled. "Yes, please join us."

Happy beyond belief, Ridge sat down between his son and his ex-wife. "Thank you."

"No problem," Matt replied.

Brooke silently hoped that Ridge didn't take this as a sign that everything was kosher between him and Matt.

"I didn't mean to interrupt your conversation," Ridge stated.

Matt had to bite his tongue before he said, yeah right. You have to be nice to your guests. You have to be nice to your guests. He can't remember the number of times he had to write sentences with that phrase for his momma for not obeying that golden rule. "LF was just asking me what I was doing with myself. And I was about to inform her that I've been working some cases for both Storm and Connor while the kids are at school."

The waiter arrived and the three placed their orders. Once the waiter left, they continued their conversation.

"You enjoy being a private investigator?" Ridge asked. He wanted to know more about his son than just what was on some papers that Tad Martin, the millionaire/private investigator, had faxed him.

"It's all I know besides farming. My dad was a cop, his dad was a cop, his dad was a cop."

It was like an arrow pierced his heart. He was Matt's father. But he wasn't. Really he was nothing more than a sperm donor. Some other man had had the privilege of raising this man.

Matt instantly noticed the change in Ridge's demeanor when he mentioned his father. He wasn't going to deny who his parents were in order to make Ridge or LF feel better about decisions they made long ago.

"A farmer and a cop? That's an interesting combination," Ridge said, trying to move on past the hurt.

"The story goes that my great-grandfather came into the house for the millionth time complaining about the sugar beets during harvest season so my great-grandmother told him to go get another job. He had two brothers working the farm and other relatives. So he took her advice, left the farm, and came back a cop. It might seem like an odd combo, but it's the best. After spending all day having people lie to you about the simplest of things, it's nice to come home and get your hands dirty. To go back to the earth. I miss it," Matt answered honestly.

A fear reared through Brooke. Was Matt going to leave? She had gotten used to him being in her life, in her home. She couldn't imagine life going back to how it used to be. She had even gained the ability to tune out his and Bridget's constant bickering about everything and anything, including if the sky was really blue.

"Well, I hope you stay around for a while so I can get to know you and your kids," Ridge stated.

"You do know they are actually my siblings."

"I know, but you adopted them after your parents died."

Matt nodded. "I just wanted to make sure your private investigator was thorough."

The shock showed on Ridge's face and remained as the waiter placed their delicious foods in front of them.

"You would have been an idiot not to check out my story and run an intensive background check on me. Though you aren't known for making the best decisions."

Shaking off his shock, he reminded himself about what Tad Martin said and he had learned at their first meeting Matt was a straight shooter. "I've made some mistakes in the past- -"

Laughing so hard, Matt began choking on his filet mignon.

"Matt, are you okay?" Brooke asked concerned.

"Yes," he choked out. "Ridge, you gotta warn me when you're going to start joking. Laughing and eating have never been a good blend for me."

Ridge's face reddened.

Brooke was going to intercede on Ridge's behalf but she decided not to. He needed to experience Matt Olsen in full force.

"I'm trying to do better," Ridge said quietly.

"Thank God for that cause I don't know how many times you could break LF's, Ric's, and Budge's hearts. How many more times you could lie to them, break your promises, or treat them like dirt?"

"I've apologized- -"

"And everything is magically better?"

"Of course not, but it's a start."

"Ridge, you're right, it's a start. But how can you begin to make up to them the childhood they lost? I found LF a broken woman because of your little stunt in Italy and your wife's and mother's murder attempt in Paris," Matt reminded the older man in a hushed tone. "She was broken and hurt beyond belief. This smiling façade she puts on has fooled you and your whole family the whole time you've known her. I don't even give any of you any credit for seeing past it. You saw and talked to a woman who had lost one twin and gave the other up for adoption and you never had a clue. How many times were you married to her and she kept this secret? She carried the pain solo. So that means either she never trusted you enough after the first time you bruised her heart to tell you what she had gone through or she didn't think you could handle it? Either way, speaks poorly of you, but then again we all know women are the stronger of the two sexes. And notice I said bruised her heart and not broke, because the heart is a muscle; it can't be broken, it can only be bruised. The bruising heals or else LF wouldn't be sitting here with us."

"I- -" Ridge didn't know what to say.

Brooke was equally as quiet. She had made a lot of progress since Matt had helped her on the beach in Cannes, but she knew she still had a long way to go before she was completely healed.

"I won't even start on Bridget and Ric and how you and your father passed them back and forth like they were rag dolls while neither of you parented them. If it wasn't for LF, I don't know where the easily duped boy and spoiled princess would be. Now don't take this to mean that I think LF, here, is a saint. She isn't, far from it. At anytime she could have stopped this madness. Gotten off the Forrester merry-go-round. I mean I can't imagine any of you Forrester men are that good in bed for her to be that sprung with the way the witch keeps and displays your balls, but it must have been something. I love this woman next to me. She's not my mom. I only have one mom. But she's the woman who gave me life. And I respect her for that." Turning to look at the blonde next to him, Matt spoke the next words directly to her. "Thank you. I love you. You are like the sister I never wanted. When it comes to you, Forresters, I feel like her older brother." Turning back to Ridge, Matt finished his statement. "I've got to protect her, Ric, and Bridget from falling for the lies, the subtle put downs, and the lies. I'm here to stay, Ridge Forrester. I can go home whenever I want, it will always be there. But for the foreseeable future, this is where I'm putting down roots. I'm protecting the woman I've come to love and know that if you hurt LF, Ric, Bridget, or Little E in any way, I will kill you," Matt warned in a casual sounding voice.

"You're one of us Forresters that you disdain so much," Ridge reminded the younger man who had attacked his manhood and warned him off of Brooke and their kids.

"Thank God, my momma and daddy were there to knock the arrogance and the cockiness out of me when I began acting too much like a Forrester."

Looking from her eldest to her ex-husband, Brooke was flabbergasted. This was definitely not how she imagined the evening going.

Ridge opened his mouth to comment, but Brooke shook her head furiously as Matt dug into his steak. Their years together allowed her to silently communicate with her ex-lover.

Not knowing if he was coming or going, the older man attempted to change the subject to a neutral topic. "When do you want to meet Thomas, Steffy, and Phoebe?"

"It wasn't on my agenda to."

"What?!" Ridge questioned in a slightly raised voice.

"Lower your voice. Let me explain something to you. You and LF are my biological parents. My parents are dead. The only sister and brother I have- -had I adopted when they died. I'm not some lost boy searching for his roots. I'm not looking for a father figure or a mother figure. I've got father figures and mother figures back home in the form of my aunts and uncles. I was curious and I found a woman who needed me to be her personal reminder on when she was being stupid. That's it. Nothing more. I didn't come here for anything more. Ric, Bridget, and I are not to be used so you can slide your way back into LF's bed because you finally became disgusted by Taylor's actions and your own. If you want to be anything more than acquaintances, you have to prove to me that you're on the up and up. LF, are you going to eat the rest of your chicken?"

Somewhere during the course of dinner, she had lost her appetite. Pushing the plate towards Matt, she gave him her blessing. She couldn't think of one word to say as the Midwesterner devoured her chicken. She looked at Ridge and saw the pain and hurt in his eyes. Matt's tongue was sharp, but it spoke the truth, how ever painful that was.

* * *

The flames of the fire flicked back and forth in the light wind.

"Don't you even want to know how?"

"No, it doesn't matter."

"You aren't the least bit curious on how?

"Haven't you been married? Cause I know how. Don't you?"

"Of course, silly. I didn't mean that how. I meant the other how."

"I know you did. And my answer is still no."

"Are we going to say anything?"

Silence permeated.

"I know. I was just wishing out loud."

"He came to see me."

"Me, too."

"He apologized," they said in unison.

"Do you think he meant it?"

"Time will tell."

"Oh yes, wise one."

"This was just for us."

"Yes, just for us."

"We're the children of Eric Forrester- -"

"But Ridge Forrester is our dad."

Sitting in the sand, Bridget leaned her head against Ric's shoulder as they watched the DNA test results burn into oblivion.


	28. Chapter 28

"So this is it," Ridge said, pushing the last box into the moving van before slamming it closed.

"This is it," Taylor nodded.

"I'm going to miss you, Doc." He would miss his ex-wife. They had come a long way and maybe for the first time ever he could say they were friends.

"I'm going to miss you, too."

He looked at his three children already engrossed in the movie playing on their portable DVD player. "Are you sure?"

Taylor sighed. "Yes, Dad. I'm an adult, you know. We're going to drive during the day and stay at hotels at night. My cell phone is charged and on my hip. I've got my car charger. So you can reach me or the kids whenever you need to."

"And you- -"

"Yes, I have Bo's, Clint's, Kevin's, and Asa's home numbers, office numbers, and cell phone numbers. I also have Clint's wife, Dorian's numbers, Bo's wife, Nora's numbers, and Kevin's wife, Rachel's numbers. Your friends, the Buchanans, have been more helpful than I ever could have imagined or expected."

"They're Texans and it's been ingrained in them since birth. Are you sure?" Ridge asked, looking into her eyes, searching for the truth.

"Yes. I'm glad Dr. Larry Wolek was willing to take me on and allow me work at Llanview Memorial. I want- - I need this new opportunity. I believe the kids and I will benefit from being away."

"Does Matt have anything to do with your decision?"

She knew all about Ridge's disastrous dinner with Matt and Brooke. And she heard about his frustration at trying to make headway with his newly discovered son. "Yes. I want our kids to know this Forrester madness isn't normal. That Brooke isn't the devil in carnate. That their grandmother's hatred of Brooke is poisonous. Both of us have been lax on letting Stephanie be Stephanie around them. We know children have big ears. And we're fooling ourselves if they don't know more about this family than they say. Llanview will give us a fresh start. You'll be with us every other weekend. They'll be out here in the summers. This will be a positive move for all of us."

While he knew Taylor spoke the truth, his heart ached at losing the privilege of seeing his children every day, of popping in at their school to have lunch with them, finding them waiting for him in his office after a meeting. He would miss them and he mourned all the things the distance would require him to miss in their lives. But he wasn't going to forget about them and neglect them like he did to Ric and Bridget. He would be an involved and loving father. "You better go, if you want to keep to your schedule."

Giving her ex-husband one final hug, she accepted his assistance getting into the moving truck.

"I love you guys," Ridge declared.

"Love you, too," the kids mumbled, engrossed in the animated movie.

He had already said his goodbyes to them so he wasn't overly offended.

Taylor shrugged her shoulders. "Kids, what can you do?"

He laughed. "Take care of them and yourself."

"I will. You take care, too. And don't give up on them."

Ridge knew the them she was referring to were Matt, Ric, and Bridget. "Never." He closed the door, waved, and watched his ex-wife and three of his children begin their new lives.

* * *

"How long are you going to sit out here?" Brooke asked, sticking her head in his passenger window.

"How did you know I was out here?" Ridge asked, caught off guard by her appearance.

Opening the car door, the blonde slid into the car and closed the door. "You know, Mrs. Lyons notices everything that happens in this neighborhood. And Matt's new security camera."

"How could I forget Mrs. Lyons," he commented, waving out of his window. He knew the older woman was watching them with her high-powered binoculars. "New security camera?"

"New security system. He said the house was a criminal's paradise. So I gave him carte blanche to do whatever he wanted to."

"To appease him?"

"Uh, yeah. But also to get him out of my hair. You think your mother is stubborn, Matt is like two Stephanies."

He stored the information to ponder later. Another extremely stubborn person in his life.

"So what are you doing out here?" Looking at her ex's tapping fingers, she knew why he was out here. "Anni and Mikey are home and in front of them he's a pussy cat."

His male pride got the best of him. "I'm not afraid of him- -"

"But that tongue of his is something else."

Ridge nodded. "How do you live with it?"

"After years of pretending about my feelings, thoughts and everyone letting me get away with it, it feels great that there is someone in my face about not accepting my BS. I know when I ask Matt something, he's going to give me an honest answer, even when it's not the truth I'm looking for. Plus, I love having him around. Until he moved in with me, I never noticed how empty that big house was without Bridget and Ric in it. And now I have my three children, plus CJ, and three grandchildren living with me. My house is now a home again."

"CJ?"

She nodded. "He and Ric have agreed to share custody of him. Poor kid, Sally and Stephanie as his grandmothers."

"No kidding."

"His bark is worse than his bite."

"His bark is pretty fierce."

"It is. But that's who he is. He's very protective of those he cares for."

"How can I get a foot in the door when I'm the bastard who hurt you?" Ridge asked. He really wanted to know what he could do to form a relationship with his son.

Brooke contemplated her answer. She didn't want to give Ridge some flowery answer to placate him. Matt had spoken the truth to Ridge when he said he didn't need a relationship with Ridge. But she liked to be an optimist and at least, Matt didn't say he didn't want a relationship. "You have to be twice as stubborn as him. Show him you want to move your acquaintanceship to a friendship. While we brought to him into this world and our DNA runs throughout his body, we aren't his parents. But we can be his friend. You can never have too many good friends."

He might as well go for broke while he was here. "And us?"

Reaching out her hand, she stroked the face of the man she had hoped she would wake up next to for the rest of her life. "I love you. I can accept the fact a part of me will always be in love with you." She saw the hope flare in the brown eyes she knew so well. "Every time I close my eyes, I see you embracing the woman who let me think my father was dying, the woman who tried to have me killed. I wake up in a cold sweat. I hear you forgiving Taylor and your mother for what they did to me. I know, for my own sake and yours, that I will get pass this, but nothing can ever be the same between us. You can forgive a murderer, you can forgive a liar trying to destroy a family, yet you think I switched Bridget's paternity test and my children and I are banished from your life."

Ridge started to open his mouth; Brooke held up her fingers to stop him.

"I know you've changed, you're changing, but those memories will haunt me for the rest of my life."

A tear escaped his eye, but he wouldn't allow anymore to fall. He had hoped he could have another chance with this great woman he foolishly threw away, but now he knew that wasn't possible. But it did appear as though she was offering her friendship, another gift he didn't deserve, but he was greedy and he would take it. And he would do something for their friendship that he didn't do with their marriage and love- - cherish it.

"Ric should be finished with dinner if you want to come in," she offered.

"I would love to," he accepted, starting his car and pulling into the driveway of his former home.


	29. Chapter 29 The Final Chapter

Well people this is the end. I want to thank you so much for taking this journey to me. A special thanks to Therese and all the wonderful people who reviewed, sent me comments, and made this one of their favorite stories. Have a great summer.

* * *

"Did anyone ever tell you that you can be a real dick sometimes?" the voice questioned from the kitchen doorway.

"Only family. And friends once they get to know me," Matt replied, never once stopping his chopping of the vegetables.

"Where is Megan and who is the big, bully, pro-wrestling looking guy sitting at her desk?" Ridge demanded.

"Hello, Matt. Hello, Ridge. How are you? I'm fine. How are you- -" Matt said, correcting Ridge's lack of manners.

"I get it. Hi, Matt. Who is that guy?"

Dumping the vegetables into the pot, Matt placed the lid on the bubbling ingredients. Baby steps. Baby steps. He reminded himself whenever he had to deal with Ridge or worse yet, Ridge and Bridget together. When those two were together, he wanted to smack her smug self. "Good eye. Bruce is an ex-wrestler, ex-bouncer turned administrative assistant. As you know, Brooke, promoted Megan to VP of sales, so LF decided to give Bruce a chance. Isn't he working out?"

"Why do I have to announce what I want to talk to Brooke about to a complete stranger?"

"Remember we're turning Forrester into a place of business. Forrester family business has no place there," Brooke said, walking into the kitchen. "Good evening."

"Evening, LF."

"Logan. Forrester is a family business- -"

"That has let its personal business almost take over the company. I'm amazed that we actually got work done."

"It wasn't that bad," Ridge stated.

Matching raised eyebrows stared back at him.

"No more, Ridge. It's a place of business and it will remain so."

"Plus it keeps your mother's vicious attacks to a minimum and your father's 'why can't we be one big happy family' routine," Matt commented. "Wait, since Bruce has taken over for Megan, all that's stopped," he continued in mock shock. "I would hold out hope that your parents would clue in, but their track record says differently."

Reluctantly, Ridge had to agree with Matt's methods. Just last night, his mother had been on a tirade about how Brooke was keeping the oldest Forrester heir away from her. He had tried to interject and remind her that one, Matt wasn't a Forrester, and two, that based on her attitude, actions, and thoughts on Logan, Matt would never agree to meet with her, and three, Matt was a grown man with children of his own, he could see whomever he wanted when he wanted. It was almost on the tip of his tongue to tell her that he had seen Matt, Kristen, and Felicia at a café not too far from the office. A café his mother would never set foot in. But he refrained and finally he kicked her out of his house so he could call his younger children in Llanview. It felt good to kick her out. While Stephanie Forrester was in his house, she had to respect his rules or get out. It was slowly making a difference in their relationship.

"Besides, Ridge, if it's just business matters you want to talk to me about, then Bruce can hear about it. It's not like he doesn't listen in to my business calls, read my emails, or open my mail, plus depending on the conversation I would tell him about it anyway. I love Megan a lot, but it's nice to have a little eye candy around the office," Brooke smiled.

Matt laughed. There was the LF he was seeing more and more of. A woman finally coming into her own and realizing the world didn't revolve around the Forresters. His next plan of action was finding her a non-Forrester to date. Maybe even someone not in the fashion industry at all. But she wasn't quite ready for that yet, but when she was…

Ridge scowled. She better only look and not touch, he thought. He and Brooke had a nice friendship, but the idea of another man touching her, kissing her, dating her still got to him.

"Is there a party I don't know about?" Ric asked with the kids behind him.

"Daddy!" Annika and Michael screamed, running full force to Matt.

Scooping his two kids into his arms, Matt showered them with kisses then put them down.

"Granma," they yelled, running to Brooke.

"Grandkids," she yelled back, kissing them senseless before letting them go.

"Hello, Mr. Ridge," they said in unison.

Ric, Brooke, and Matt had to hide their smiles.

Ridge had done everything he could to get the kids to like him, but to no avail. Little Eric, he had eating out of his hand, calling him grandpa. But as for Annika and Michael, he was Mr. Ridge. And they never allowed him to call them Anni or Mikey. Brooke could almost feel sorry for him, if it wasn't so funny. Even Matt had tried talking to the kids about giving Ridge a break, but they just ignored his talk.

"Hello, Annika, Michael. How was your day?" Ridge asked in the sweetest of tones.

"It was fine, sir. Thank you for asking," Michael replied.

They were so proper with Ridge. It really was quite funny. She had told Ridge that if the kids were treating someone else like this, he would see the humor in it, too. He wasn't amused by her insight.

"Grandpa," little Eric exclaimed, walking directly to Ridge.

"Hey, E. How's Grandpa's big boy?" Ridge asked, giving his youngest grandchild a high five.

"Dad, I didn't know you were here," Bridget commented, putting her school books on the kitchen table, after entering from the backyard.

"I just got here, Princess," the clothing designer answered.

Brooke watched her family and marveled at how far they had come. She felt like she would spend the rest of her life getting to know everything about Matt. She was beginning to think that Bridget and Matt would never truly get along, though over the past few months she had noticed a change, a slight one, but still a change in Bridget's attitude. Maybe her little girl was maturing. Ric was crumbling around Ridge. It appeared they were on their way to a real father/son relationship. Matt and Ridge were- - well they were- - more than acquaintances, less than friends. What was it that Katie said? They were two men who loved the same woman and tolerated each other for her sake. That was an accurate description of their relationship. She knew Ridge wasn't happy with it, but he was keeping his mouth shut and accepting it. Her life wasn't perfect, but she was healing, becoming stronger, and was okay with where everything was right now.

She had come a long way from the woman who hadn't cared if she lived or died in the waters off of France a year ago. She was grateful for all she had and for all she had been through. She had made a lot of progress this year in both her personal and professional life. She was happier then she had been in a long while. She didn't know what her future held, but she knew it was bright and was looking forward to it.


End file.
